Canelo Alvarez Closes Four-Fight Deal with Riyadh Season Instead of Jake Paul Fight
Canelo Alvarez has signed a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season to pave the way for a fight against Terence Crawford, while a deal with Jake Paul has been scrapped.
Mike Coppinger has covered boxing since 2010 with roles at USA Today, Ring Magazine and The Athletic before he joined ESPN in 2021.
In a stunning 11th-hour development, Canelo Alvarez has closed a four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season to help facilitate a Terence Crawford mega-fight in September, sources told ESPN on Thursday night.
The first fight of Alvarez's four-fight deal will take place on May 4 in Riyadh, scheduled for a prime-time broadcast Saturday night in the U.S., sources informed ESPN. Two names being considered for this fight, intended as a tune-up for Crawford, are Jermall Charlo and Bruno Surace.
Earlier on Thursday, sources indicated that Alvarez and Jake Paul were close to finalizing a deal for a May 3 cruiserweight fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. That fight is now no longer expected to occur.
Upon learning of Alvarez's deal with Paul, Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, suspended efforts to finalize contracts for an Alvarez-Crawford matchup, according to sources.
Hours later, Alvarez finalized his four-fight agreement with Riyadh Season.
