When Turki Alalshikh wants something, he tends to get it, and next on his list is that dream megafight pitting ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.
The Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority is behind the huge investment which has seen the noble art boom in 2024 thanks to the gaudy shows put on by Riyadh Season.
Next up of course is the heavyweight title unification showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night, but even now Alalshikh is looking ahead to what might be an even bigger PPV draw.
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He wants to pit undisputed super-middleweight king and PPV cash cow Alvarez (61-2-2) against unbeaten P4P superstar Crawford (40-0) in what would be the biggest fight out there in the United States right now.
Crawford will step up to 154lbs for the first time in his next bout against Israil Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles. That also heralds the first Riyadh Season show to be funded by the Saudis on American soil.
Alalshikh wants to repeat that card on a much bigger scale in either late 2024 or early 2025 with that Canelo vs Crawford fight – at a weight as yet to be determined. He says the venue will be New York, Los Angeles or Las Vegas. Whichever site offers the best deal.
Turki Alalshikh on Canelo vs Crawford
He told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour: “I am working on Canelo and Crawford card and I want this fight and we are thinking to do it in America because we want it huge and biggest stadium and big pay-per-voew.
“We want to do it in the end of the year or the beginning of the second year. I hope no-one stands in our way to doing something like this from the promoters or the belts. Because in the end, if we want it, we will do it. And will sucessfully do it.”
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Alalshikh also had a stern warning for the IBF, which has ordered ‘Canelo’ to negotiate a title defence against mandatory contender William Scull.
“I am very angry and I don’t understand why the IBF put mandatory to ‘Canelo’ very soon,” he explained.
“And they do it like this for the third time with us. They do it before with Opetaia and Hrgovic and we don’t understand. I hope they understand this message because we don’t want the fighter to step down from his belt.”
