In a dramatic turn of events, Canelo Alvarez has pulled the plug on negotiations with Jake Paul at the eleventh hour and is back in talks with Terence Crawford.
It was reported last night that Canelo was finalising a deal to face the YouTuber-turned-boxer on May 3 in Las Vegas.
GETTYPaul vs Canelo will not happen in May[/caption]
However, those negotiations have since fallen through, with Canelo instead choosing to sign a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season.
The chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority took to social media on Thursday evening to write: “Don’t mess with the lion … 4 fights for Canelo with Riyadh Season …
“The Deal is done … A Lion doesn’t lose sleep over opinion of a sheep… Fear the lion not the jungle.”
Alalshikh then posted a video on X, revealing certain aspects of Canelo’s four-fight plan.
The Saudi boxing chief declared that Canelo will return to the ring in May over in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
According to Ring Magazine, this will not come against Paul.
Canelo is then expected to fight again in September against Crawford in Las Vegas, followed by two Riyadh fights in February 2026 and October 2026.
This comes just 48 hours after Ring Magazine reported that Canelo-Crawford was off.
Prior to this, it was disclosed that Canelo vs Crawford were set to square off at the Las Vegas Raiders‘ $3billion Allegiant Stadium.
Crawford is expected to move up two weight classes to face Canelo at his natural home of super middleweight (168lbs).
‘Bud’ is the much smaller man having only recently moved up to super welterweight (154lbs) following stints at lightweight (135lbs), super lightweight (140lbs) and welterweight (147lbs).
It is often the case that when two fighters from different weight classes sign up to fight each other, a rehydration clause is added to the deal to level the playing field.
The contractual agreement limits how much weight a fighter can gain between the weigh-in and the start of a fight through a second-day weigh check.
Most anticipated that this would be the case for Canelo and Crawford given the size disparity between the pair.
But Crawford’s trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre insists this won’t be the case, even suggesting that they didn’t want one.
“We don’t give a damn about that, you can only get so big,” he told Ring Magazine.
“If you get too big then that is on him. I love Terence’s chances.
“I have zero issues with it, Terence has zero issues with it…
“That’s some bulls****, that is some weak s****. ‘Oh you can’t come in at this much and s***.’
“Oh man get the f*** out of here, it is boxing. You have the skills, I made the weight regardless of what I come back as.
“You accepted the fight lets fight as men, it is as simple as that.”
