Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford fight plan laid out as Saudi boxing chief reveals date for blockbuster showdown

06/05/2024 19:02

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh is hoping to deliver Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford in the not-so-distant future.

The chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority revealed to ESPN that he is looking at making the super fight in either December or January over in the United States.

“I’m working to deliver [Canelo] but it will be a big fight [for Crawford],” Alalshikh said. “I’ll discuss with him the names. “

Former two-weight undisputed champion, Crawford, is working with Alalshikh for his upcoming clash against WBA super-welterweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles.

Providing he wins that fight a bout against Canelo should come next for ‘Bud’.

“You got two of the top fighters of this decade, not just in the past year or so,” Crawford said of a possible showdown with Canelo.

“You got two fighters that’s been at the top for 10 years. You got the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world and you got the No. 1 money man. I never like to overlook anybody, I got a fight coming up Aug. 3, and that’s where my main focus is at.”

Canelo proved he is still the best 168lber on the planet when he retained his undisputed super-middleweight titles on Saturday night against Jaime Munguia via unanimous decision.

Crawford was in attendance for the fight and delivered his verdict in the immediate aftermath.

“I thought it was a good fight,” he added. “I thought Munguia fought hard.

“I just think his inexperience caught up to him and made him fall in and square up and not stepping in with his punches allowed Canelo to sit back, counter and pick his shots. … Canelo was real patient.”

Alalshikh is also planning to stage a UK-USA 5 vs 5 event for December in the same format as the Queensberry-Matchroom 5 vs 5 on June 1 but with a team of British boxers competing against a team of Americans.

This is all part of the Saudi boxing chief’s plan to fix boxing.

“[Boxing] is broken, but I think we don’t need to get everything back together,” said Alalshikh.

“Indeed, boxing sat atop the global sports landscape for much of the 20th century.

“But with the best matchups being relegated to pay-per-view, the sport’s lack of centralized governing body and the minimization of pugilism at the Olympics, the sport has waned in popularity since.

“We need to improve it with something else, we have a strategic vision where we have identified untapped opportunities and are committed to market improvement.”