Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has paved the way for a super-fight against Terence Crawford after signing a multi-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh, amid speculation that he was considering a sensational clash with Jake Paul.
The deal is for four fights, with the first set for Saudi Arabia in May and including a September showdown with Terence Crawford, potentially in Las Vegas.
“Canelo in Riyadh in May. The big fight [against Crawford] in September then two more fights in ’26. Don’t mess with the lion,” Alalshikh, who heads Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, said in a social media post.
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Alvarez posted: “Let’s go brother.”
Speculation had been mounting that Canelo was considering meeting social media influencer turned fighter Jake Paul in a boxing event.
Paul fuelled that expectation when he posted: “A-Side in every fight I’ve been in and that’s not changing for this one.”
Paul’s adviser Nakisa Bidarian didn’t rule out Paul boxing Canelo, but insisted that was by no means a done deal when he stated: “When there is something to announce, we will announce it.
“No outside promoter has any accurate insight on our discussions being concluded or not with any Jake Paul opponent (multiple names in discussion).”
Jake Paul is a licenced professional boxer but he has never fought at championship level. He lost an eight-round split decision to Tommy Fury, the brother of Tyson Fury, as well as boxing MMA fighters, like Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz.
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His bout with the 58-year-old Mike Tyson last November was controversial considering the 31-year age gap between them, but commercially the event was a huge draw. Paul is yet to confirm his next move.
Boxing Paul would be a novelty for Canelo, who has taken on some of the greatest fighters in the sport, including Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Gennady Golovkin and more, as well as winning a world title as high as light-heavyweight when he beat Sergey Kovalev.
A Canelo vs Crawford fight would match up two of the sport’s pound-for-pound stars.
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Mexican superstar Alvarez has been an outstanding champion for a number of years, going undisputed at super-middleweight.
Crawford has been a world champion in multiple weight classes but is much lighter than Canelo. He began his championship reign at lightweight and went undisputed at super-light and welterweight, beating Errol Spence in their 147lb super-fight.
Last year he moved up to super-welterweight for the first time and took a solid win over Israil Madrimov.
But against Alvarez, Crawford wants to test himself against his best opponent, from a weight class higher than he’s ever fought at before.
Crawford stated: “I’m waiting on Canelo in September and going to shock the world in Riyadh Season.”
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