The Saudis are apparently going to war with Jake Paul. On Thursday afternoon, it appeared that Paul had a deal in place to fight Canelo Alvarez in May.
News of the Paul-Alvarez fight apparently annoyed Saudi backer Turki Alalshikh, who reportedly stopped negotiating with the Mexican superstar on other potential deals if he fought the YouTube star-turned-boxer.
Via The Ring
According to boxing insider Michael Coppinger of ESPN, Turki Alalshikh – Head of Riyadh Season and the General Entertainment Authority – is “suspending efforts” to finalize a lucrative three-fight deal with super middleweight world champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
As previously reported by The Ring, an agreement was in place for Canelo to defend his super middleweight crown against Terence Crawford on a September date at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The fight with Crawford would have been the first bout of this agreement.
Coppinger indicates that Canelo and Crawford signed term sheets after agreeing to a deal – and that the Mexican star’s decision to move forward with a planned fight against social media star Jake Paul is the potential cause for the fallout in finalizing the multi-fight pact
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On Friday morning, Alvarez had a last-minute change of heart, and announced that he would be signing a four-fight deal with the Saudis and would not be fighting Paul.
📋 Canelo Alvarez’s potential opponents for his four-fight Riyadh Season deal: [@MikeCoppinger]
🇸🇦 May 2025: Jermall Charlo or Bruno Surace
🇺🇸 Sept 2025: Terence Crawford
🇸🇦 Feb 2026: Dmitry Bivol, Hamzah Sheeraz or Chris Eubank Jr
🇸🇦 Oct 2026: To Be Confirmed pic.twitter.com/isjqMrytmv— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) February 7, 2025
An annoyed Paul took to social media to fire shots at Canelo for aligning himself with the Saudis.
“Breaking news: Canelo Alvarez ducked me Jake Paul and is now an owned slave with no regard for the pride of the Mexican people who support him on US soil. it’s not surprising when his whole career he has done nothing for the sport of boxing outside the ring. I’m the new face of boxing. You cannot have the biggest fight of 2025 without my name involved. When all of your events tank and lose money you will all realize who the king of the sport is. 28 years old. Biggest fight in boxing history. My own boss. Not owned. 5 years in. All of you felines want to see me fail, but god has other plans. It’s the era of good. The era of the elephant. It’s the era of MVP.”
Breaking news: Canelo Alvarez ducked me Jake Paul and is now an owned slave with no regard for the pride of the Mexican people who support him on US soil. it’s not surprising when his whole career he has done nothing for the sport of boxing outside the ring. I’m the new face of… pic.twitter.com/oKJmPZFkzD
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) February 7, 2025
