BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Saul “Canelo” Alvarez doesn’t like to discuss future plans when he has a fight on his immediate schedule, and he emphasized how that point applies even when pressed by boxing’s newest big power broker, Turki Alalshikh.
Alvarez said he was contacted by Alalshikh on Monday about the possibility of taking a February fight in Saudi Arabia against newly crowned junior middleweight and four-division champion Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs).
“They called me yesterday,” Alvarez told PPV.COM in a Tuesday interview before his news conference with Sept. 14 super middleweight opponent Edgar Berlanga at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
“They wanted to meet with me and see about the fight with Crawford in February. I said, ‘Look, I’m not interested in talking about another fight. After Sept. 14, we can talk. But not right now.’”
Alalshikh then announced on “X” late Monday night that, “Just wrapped up an important meeting now with my team, planning for the upcoming fights that we will make for 2024-2025. I decided to disregard the Canelo fight, as I don’t want it anymore. Instead, I will be focusing for the U.S. market with bigger fights, especially for the legend Crawford.”
Four-division and unified super middleweight champion Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) said he told his occasional promoter, Eddie Hearn, the same thing at the first stop of his and Berlanga’s press tour, in New York.
“Eddie Hearn asked me, ‘Hey, we want to talk about the Crawford fight in February. Turki Alalshikh wants to meet you in person [in L.A.],’” Alvarez said.
“I said, ‘Look, I don’t want to talk about the fight.’”
Few people, obviously, put Alalshikh on pause.
His deep investment in boxing has moved many fighters to flock to Saudi Arabia or to accept purses they’ve never seen before to participate under his Riyadh Season banner.
The height of the Alalshikh ring-kissing came Saturday night at the Los Angeles card, where Crawford edged Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision to capture the World Boxing Association 154-pound belt.
Interrupting the card’s flow, the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame and promoters Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya attended a ring ceremony granting Alalshikh a special induction into the hall despite the fact he has never staged a fight in the state.
Meanwhile, Alvarez was bowing to no one.
“Maybe that’s why they announced this, because I said, ‘No, I don’t want to talk about the fight” Alvarez said. “I’m very focused on this [Berlanga] fight.’”
Alalshikh previously sought to poke at Alvarez by saying he was investing in the production of the anticipated UFC card at the Las Vegas Sphere, also on Sept. 14.
Alalshikh said the UFC card would “eat” Alvarez’s show.
“I’m not here to disrespect anyone. I always fight on Mexican Independence [weekend] and I have my fans and my people, and they’ve never let me down,” said Alvarez, who’s coming off a unanimous decision victory over another young contender, Jaime Munguia, on Cinco de Mayo weekend in May.
“I just do my thing,” Alvarez said. “I just want to fight on those days.”
Saying he still feels he’s the world’s No. 1 fighter, over Crawford, undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue and others, Alvarez expressed confidence that the Mexico-versus-Puerto Rico angle of his bout with Berlanga stirs his countrymen to strongly support his card.
“I’m going to bring my best like I always do. And Mexico versus Puerto Rico motivates me even more,” he said. “It’s amazing to represent my country against a [territory] that has so many amazing fighters, too.”
Being Alvarez means a constant stream of challengers, including Crawford, clamoring to fight him.
“It’s an honor that everyone wants to fight me, dreaming of having a fight against Canelo,” he said.
He chose Berlanga because the unbeaten Brooklyn fighter who opened his career with 16 consecutive first-round knockouts is an entertaining, active, younger challenger who will bring a great fight.
Alvarez has never been sold on the idea that Crawford will do that, since he is so undersized that he would have every reason to follow an elusive fight plan.
“He’s a good fighter, I know that,” Alvarez said of Crawford. “He thinks he can do everything.
“But I think he knows it’s a little bit different at 154. Good fighter, but that’s why there are weight classes. I like Terence Crawford and his style. It’s just different. You can see that in that fight [against Madrimov]. It’s just different.”
As for the others, Alvarez floated the suggestion that it might be best to wait just a little longer to meet unbeaten former 168-pound titleholder David Benavidez as Benavidez pursues a date with whoever will be crowned the undisputed light heavyweight champion when unbeaten Russians Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev fight in Saudi Arabia on Oct. 12.
“People want to see that fight, they’ll have to pay,” Alvarez said.
He’s also interested in taking a fight in Japan, where one of the fighters he most admires, former featherweight champion Oscar Larios of Mexico, fought many times.
“I like to go fight by fight, but I definitely would like to have the experience to go fight in Japan,” Alvarez said. “I grew up watching [Jorge] Linares; he went to Japan a lot of times. I really want to go there and have that experience.”
As for Saudi Arabia, it remains to be seen if he’ll ever go there.