Canelo’s Four-Fight Plan: Paul Fight Off, Riyadh, Crawford, And More

by


Turki Al-Sheikh laid out a new four-fight deal for Canelo Alvarez that stretches into 2026 and does NOT involve influencer Jake Paul. That fight is now off without ever being officially announced.

Turki said Canelo’s next fight will be in May in Riyadh, which will be the biggest fight in the history of boxing.” He gave no clues about who that would be against, but it’s probably not against David Benavidez. His face looked beat up after his clash against David Morrell.

The Ring reports that Canelo vs. Jake Paul is OFF for May. Fans will be happy that one is no longer happening because they saw it as a total mismatch.

Turki’s four-fight plan for Canelo

  1. May fight in Riyadh: TBA
  2. September in Las Vegas: Terence Crawford
  3. February 2026 in Riyadh: TBA
  4. October 2026 in Riyadh: TBA

The Mystery Fights

Somewhere among those four fights is likely going to be David Benavidez because that’s the one that U.S. fans want to see most of all against Canelo. If they can figure out a good catchweight and stick a 10-lb rehydration clause to keep Benavidez from rehydrating to 196 again like he did against David Morrell, it would be a doable fight. Canelo will still be giving away a ton of weight, but the money might be worth it.

All the mystery fights make it difficult to determine the quality of this four-fight deal. Unless you really love watching Crawford’s fights, it’s hard to predict if there will be any gems in this bunch. Many view Terence as someone who is just looking for a payday against Canelo and will make it boring by using the Mayweather blueprint to try to outbox him. That’s a miss for me.

Fans would rather see Artur Beterbiev fight Canelo in September than Crawford. That would depend on whether Beterbiev wins his rematch with Dmitry Bivol on February 22nd.

“Canelo in Riyadh in May, the big fight in the history of boxing. In September, then two more fights in 2026. Don’t mess with the lion,” said Turki Al-Sheikh on X.

Some fans believe the superstar Canelo used the talk of him fighting Jake Paul as leverage to get a better deal from Turki. Many people bought into the fight, even promoters like Eddie Hearn.

Last Updated on 02/07/2025




Leave a Comment