Latest twist in Canelo vs Crawford saga sees Jake Paul fight cast aside for Saudi deal

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has signed a four-fight deal with the Saudis, set to include a bout with Terence Crawford – as Jake Paul misses out

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has signed a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season and is set to box Terence Crawford after all, as YouTuber Jake Paul seemingly misses out on a fight with the Mexican.

Saudi matchmaker Turki Alalshikh has long expressed a desire for Canelo to face Crawford, in a somewhat contrived super-fight that would see the latter move up two divisions.

As of Thursday (6 February), that bout was “off”, according to The Ring – a magazine owned by Alalshikh. At the same time, rumours of a clash between Canelo and Paul grew.

However, Alalshikh appeared to hash out a deal with Canelo heading into Friday, which brought the news that Alvarez will fight at four Riyadh Season events across 2025 and 2026.

The unified super-middleweight champion is due to box an unnamed opponent in May, before facing Crawford in September – at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Canelo will then fight in February and October 2026, if all goes to plan.

American Crawford reacted by tweeting: “I’m waiting on Canelo in September and going to shock the world in Riyadh Season!” Meanwhile, Alalshikh wrote: “Don’t mess with the lion. 4 fights for Canelo with Riyadh Season … The Deal is done … A Lion doesn’t lose sleep over [the] opinion of a sheep… Fear the lion not the jungle.” Alalshikh also hit out at media reports that Canelo would box Paul.

According to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, Canelo’s May fight could come against Jermall Charlo or Bruno Surace, while his February 2026 opponent could be Hamzah Sheeraz, Chris Eubank Jr or Dmitry Bivol – who beat Canelo in 2022. Coppinger’s report was shared by The Ring, suggesting Alalshikh might have validated those details.

Just hours before Alalshikh’s announcement, Paul shared an update from Bavafa Sports, which is run by his business partner Nakisa Bidarian. “When there is something to announce, we will announce it,” read the statement. “No outside promoter has any accurate insight on our discussions being concluded or not with any Jake Paul opponent (multiple names in discussion).”

Paul, 28, has long sought a bout with Canelo, 34, while racking up wins over former UFC champions, lower-level professional boxers, and most recently heavyweight legend Mike Tyson.

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Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (left) and Terence Crawford are due to fight in September (Getty Images)

Jake Paul (left) during his win over Mike Tyson in November (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved)

Canelo is a former undisputed super-middleweight champion, who has also held world titles in three other divisions. Meanwhile, Crawford is one of just three men to have been undisputed at two weights, and – like Canelo – the American has held gold in four divisions.

Most recently, Crawford outpointed Israil Madrimov in August to win the WBA super-welterweight title. In his previous bout, in July 2023, the 37-year-old dismantled Errol Spence Jr in a shockingly one-sided fight. The result of that long-awaited fight saw Crawford become undisputed welterweight champion.

Meanwhile, Canelo last fought in September, dropping Edgar Berlanga en route to a decision win to retain his super-middleweight belts. Earlier in 2024, Canelo did the same to compatriot Jaime Munguia.