Just moments after Terence Crawford got his hand raised Saturday night, Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshiekh reiterated his intentions on pitting the newly crowned junior middleweight champion with fellow pound-for-pound great Canelo Alvarez.
As attention shifts towards Canelo Alvarez ahead of his super middleweight title defense against Edgar Berlanga, the Saudi Arabian power player seems to be changing his tune. In a post on his X account, Alalshiekh announced future plans for Riyadh Season and specifically excluded the Mexican five-division champ.
“I decided to disregard the Canelo fight, as I don’t want it anymore.
Instead, I will be focusing on the US market with bigger fights, especially for the legend Crawford,” he tweeted. Alalshiekh also singled out Jarron “Boots” Ennis, high-profile free agent Shakur Stevenson, and David Benavidez (who has been angling for a showdown with Alvarez.)
Riyadh Season just completed its first card in the United States over the weekend with Crawford picking up a decision win over Israil Madrimov in the main event and adding a belt from a fourth division to his resume.
Also Read: How to Watch Temper vs. Brueckner on DAZN – Start Time, Price, And Fight Card
Canelo Alvarez: If They Don’t Talk About Me, They Don’t Sell Anything
Crawford made no secret of the reason he wanted to go up in weight: to better position himself for the near guaranteed box office success of a meeting with Alvarez.
Apparently, that wasn’t lost on Canelo Alvarez as he dismissed his name being brought up constantly as a marketing ploy to attract pay-per-view dollars. “If they don’t talk about me they don’t sell anything” he told PPV.com.
As far as Crawford’s performance against Madrimov in his junior middleweight debut, Alvarez did not seem overly impressed. “I think he lost the fight or a draw,” he said. “He knows why there are weight classes.”
Alvarez stopped short of completely dismissing the possibility of a bout with “Bud,” stating it could still happen if “the money is right.”
Canelo Alvarez will defend his WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight belts on Sep. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Also Read: Horrifying Alex Pereira Allegations Hit Social Media
