Canelo Alvarez is on the middle of some main boxing drama, with the tip outcome hopefully a extremely anticipated struggle with Terence Crawford.
A superfight between Alvarez (62-2-2) and Crawford (41-0) seems to be again on, after a report emerged Thursday from The Ring Journal—owned by Riyadh Season head Turki Alalshikh—that the bout was not occurring. Making issues extra complicated, ESPN later reported that Alvarez would as a substitute struggle influencer boxer Jake Paul (11-1) in a bout to be streamed on Netflix on Might 3, a report that was seemingly corroborated by The Ring.
Nevertheless, late Thursday night, Alalshikh introduced that Alvarez had as a substitute signed a four-fight take care of Riyadh Season, and that Alvarez would struggle in Might for that promotion and never be concerned with Paul or Netflix. A part of Alalshikh’s announcement was that the second struggle on Alvarez’s contract will see him step into the ring with Crawford.
See Alalshikh’s tweet celebrating the information and Crawford’s response under.
Don’t mess with the lion … 4 fights for Canelo with Riyadh Season … The Deal is completed … A Lion doesn’t lose sleep over opinion of a sheep … Worry the lion not the jungle ♂️ pic.twitter.com/OJTaapvPfU
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) February 7, 2025
I’m ready on Canelo in September and going to shock the world in Riyadh Season!
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) February 7, 2025
In keeping with ESPN, the Alvarez vs. Paul struggle was “on the 1-yard line” earlier than Alvarez as a substitute inked his take care of Alalshikh. ESPN additionally reported the primary Riyadh Season bout for Alvarez might happen on Might 4, presumably in opposition to Jermall Charlo or Bruno Surace. Following that contest, Alvarez would go on to struggle Crawford on Sept. 13 in Las Vegas.
Alvarez’s third struggle would happen in February 2026 with a Dmitry Bivol rematch in play (ESPN additionally mentions Hamzah Sheeraz and Chris Eubank Jr. as attainable opponents), and the ultimate struggle of his deal is focused for October 2026.
For now, the Paul struggle doesn’t seem like a part of Alalshikh’s plans. Regardless of the experiences and some cryptic tweets from Paul, neither he nor Alvarez straight addressed their rumored matchup in public.
Ought to Alvarez vs. Crawford come to fruition, it might match two of the very best pound-for-pound boxers on this planet in opposition to each other. Alvarez, the reigning tremendous middleweight champion, would have a notable dimension benefit over Crawford, who has competed primarily at welterweight.
