Turki Alalshikh makes major U-turn on Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford fight as the Mexican superstar receives a clear message at UFC 306

15/09/2024 07:18

HE Turki Alalshikh has changed his mind about Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.

The Saudi boxing chief now wants to make the super fight again after previously stating that he had no interest in pursuing it anymore.

HE Alalshikh once had the clash at the top of his boxing wishlist and even made an offer to the Mexican superstar yet after a breakdown in communication with Canelo, the proposal was withdrawn.

For a while, it seemed as though the fight was dead in the water.

But following Canelo’s dominant unanimous decision win over Edgar Berlanga on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena, the former pound-for-pound king received a clear message from Crawford and HE Alalshikh.

The pair were down the road watching UFC 306 at the Las Vegas Sphere and jumped on Instagram live to call out Canelo.

“Yo Turki, tell them we are going to go for Canelo next,” said Crawford.

“Yes,” replied HE Alalshikh. “Let’s go! Canelo, come on. We are ready.”

Crawford then added: “You heard it from him. Just put me in the game b****.

“Canelo-Crawford, the biggest fight in boxing. But we stay ready though.

“We stay ready, that way we ain’t got to get ready.”

This change of tune comes after HE Alalshikh took to social media in August to write: “Just wrapped up an important meeting now with my team, planning for the upcoming fights that we will make for 2024-2025.

“I decided to disregard the Canelo fight, as I don't want it anymore.

“Instead, I will be focusing for the US market with bigger fights, especially for the legend Crawford.”

Canelo responded by insisting he ‘doesn’t like the way HE Alalshikh works’, which prompted an angry reply from the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.

“I heard what Canelo said that he respects me but doesn’t like the way we do business,” Alalshikh tweeted.

“As for him respecting me, it doesn’t matter to me if he does or not.

“As for the way I do business, I know why he doesn’t like it, because I only target big fights at fair prices, so of course anyone who likes easy fights won’t like that.”

“And I know how he feels after losing to Bivol, so he’s been looking for easier fights ever since.

“Also, I’m not the one who’s afraid of fighting Benavidez or Crawford.

“Therefore, I knew he was wasting our time and making excuses with big amounts of money that can’t be paid.

“So I’m continuing my way to make big fights that serve the boxing world, and he’s on his way to making easy show-only fights.”