Canelo Axed From Riyadh Plans as Turki Alalshikh’s Limits Are Tested

In recent social media posts, Turki Alalshikh has blasted Canelo Alvarez after the Mexican star is said to have wasted the Saudi’s time demanding a ridiculous purse for the Crawford fight Turki wanted.

Turki Alalshikh vs Canelo Alvarez

In his initial post on Twitter, Turki Alalshikh said ‘I decided to disregard the Canelo fight, as I don’t want it anymore’, he said he will instead focus on the US market ‘with bigger fights, especially for the legend Crawford’.

In response to this, Canelo was quoted as saying the following:

Turki hit back against Canelo, saying,

It seems the money the Saudis are willing to invest for Riyadh Season does have a ceiling, and Canelo’s demands seem to have found it. Canelo previously said he would only fight David Benavidez for 200 million.

Even by the precedent the Saudis have set, with the rumour being that AJ earnt $50 million for his fight against Francis Ngannou (who in two Riyadh Season boxing events earnt more than in his entire UFC career), this is clearly an extremely large price to pay – and one that Turki is not willing to.

With rumours of a Saudi plan to buy out all the major promoters, it is clear they have money to invest into boxing, yet even ‘the face of boxing’, as Alvarez has been called, is not able to shake up their financial plans.

The Mexican is set to face Edgar Berlanga on September 14th, with many boxing fans suggesting this is a meaningless fight, and that Canelo should instead face up to a deserving challenger in David Benavidez, or even in a big-name clash against Terence Crawford, who dethroned Israil Madrimov in a close-fight cementing Bud’s legacy as a four-weight World Champion.

It remains to be seen what fights may come about for Canelo, and what fights will come about through Saudi Arabia’s ever-increasing hold on boxing, though as it stands, it seems Turki Alalshikh is looking past Canelo for the near future.

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