For a while there, some of us got a little worried Canelo Alvarez, for many the face of boxing, and for all a future Hall of Famer, really would take the ultimate cash-grab, this a fight with Jake Paul. Thankfully, this absolute slaughter of a fight – and that’s what it would have been unless Canelo had agreed to take it easy on the influencer, or if you prefer, Youtuber, and allow him to survive for a few rounds – is now dead in the water.
Instead, as fans have no doubt read, Canelo has signed a four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh. He will box in May (in Riyadh vs. TBA, possibly Jermall Charlo or Bruno Surace), in September (in Las Vegas vs. Terence Crawford), in February (in Riyadh vs. TBA), and again in October (in Riyadh vs. TBA).
Paul is out on his ear, and he sure ain’t happy about it, with him even having the nerve to say Canelo “ducked” him. While you may not be able to stop laughing at the complete absurdity of such a claim, one that was apparently made with a straight face, you might enjoy what Canelo had to say. Via a brief video that was shown by Ring, Canelo had the following to say:
“Hey guys, don’t pay any attention to anything [from] this f****g you-tuber. I just fight real fighters…..no f*****g around with Canelo! Come on – let’s go.”
You can consider Paul to be put firmly in his place, with him now having to look at finding some other novelty fight that will see him draw big TV numbers along with a big purse. The stain left on the sport would have been a pretty ugly and nasty one had Canelo agreed to fight Paul. Now that that rubbish is off the table, we can look ahead to seeing Canelo in some good fights.
The Crawford fight, maligned by some fans who say Crawford is simply too small, is, for others, myself included, an absolutely fascinating proposition. As to the other three fights Canelo has whilst boxing for Riyadh Season, there are a number of names that have been suggested, including the aforementioned Surace and Jermall Charlo, Dmitry Bivol, Chris Eubank Jr, and Hamzah Sheeraz.
Unfortunately, one name that doesn’t feature here is that of David Benavidez. Canelo stated that he only fights “real fighters,” but the one more real than real mega fight all fans want to see, are desperate to see, is Canelo Vs. Benavidez. But perhaps not even the deeper-than-deep pockets of Turki Alalshikh can make this fight a reality. Benavidez, we know, wants it, but Canelo just doesn’t seem interested.
