Jake Paul vs Canelo Alvarez would have been announced today before Turki Alalshikh's last minute intervention
02/11/2025 05:47 AM
The conversations surrounding boxing in 2025 were nearly very different until there was a sudden course correction.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is always going to be involved in some of the biggest fights of the year because he remains one of the premier stars in combat sports. With that in mind, the Mexican icon has the power to dictate what people talk about in the boxing world for a calendar year and he did just that last week.
After seemingly moving towards a fight with Jake Paul which would have undoubtedly dominated headlines throughout the year, Canelo pivoted, signing a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season.
Turki Alalshikh has made it crystal clear that the 34-year-old will not be boxing ‘The Problem Child’ over the next two years but things were almost very different.
Jake Paul shares promotional material that would have announced his fight with Canelo Alvarez today
In a recent video posted on X, Jake Paul responded to Canelo Alvarez’s recent comments about a fight between them not taking place. Alvarez claimed that he only fights “real fighters”, having recently been announced to be facing William Scull on May 3 in Riyadh.
Paul was heavily critical of Canelo after he claimed that you cannot trust what the Mexican star is saying. To prove that, he shared an image of the signed contract for their fight as well as the promotional material which would have announced the fight today in what is now a parallel timeline.
“Time to expose him. So we had a signed contract to fight. Here you can see Canelo’s signature and my signature to the right. Claiming he’s not fighting YouTubers, b——-. Look at the poster, we were announcing Tuesday, February 11. Claiming he fights real fighters but he’s fighting Crawford, a 135-pound fighter and running from a real fighter like David Benavidez you b—-.”
Paul went on to rattle off a few more points, attacking Canelo for being disloyal to his original promoters, letting down the Mexican fans by fighting in Riyadh and failing to put on a bigger fight than him, as well as mentioning his own family’s reaction to the news.
“Remember you told my team that your daughter came home and asked if you were fighting Jake Paul? She was all excited. You said that was the first time your daughter has ever asked you about a fight.”
Jake Paul might have been used as a bargaining chip by Canelo Alvarez
Jake Paul is going to continue bringing up the receipts he has that prove that his fight with Canelo Alvarez was a very serious proposition.
However, what many fans are starting to believe is that the Mexican star was using this fight in order to give himself some leverage in negotiating a deal with Riyadh Season. Canelo ultimately went the way that the boxing purists would have wanted, not just for their own enjoyment, but for his legacy.
That’s not to say that he won’t pursue the fight two years from now when his current deal is over but for now, what could be his final few fights at the very top will take place against quality opposition. Tuesday, February 11 was almost a sport defining moment for mainstream boxing.
