NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 05: Canelo Alvarez attends Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga press … [+]
Either Canelo Alvarez knows his worth and won’t accept a dime less, or he doesn’t really want to fight Terence Crawford and is being priced out of range on purpose.
On Monday, after holding a press event to promote his upcoming fight with Edgar Berlanga on Sept. 14, Alvarez was asked about a possible fight with Crawford. Canelo said, “if the money is right,” he would be willing to fight Crawford.
The reporter from FightHype, speaking to Canelo asked how much money he would need to fight Crawford, throwing $100 million as a potentially acceptable payout. Canelo responded with “150 million dollars.“
Turkii Alalshikh and the Saudi powerbrokers have made the necessary investments to produce the fights fans have been craving. Considering what has already been invested, it’s hard to think that this asking price is out of their range.
However, Canelo’s request could be considered a less sincere request and Alalshikh seems to have distanced himself from the possibility since the Mexican legend made the statement. Early Tuesday morning, Alalshikh took to social media to give an update on his dealings in the boxing world and stated that he no longer wanted to fight Canelo.
Instead, Riyadh’s season will continue to build things in the American market. On August 3, Alalshikh and his team drew their first card in the United States. It took place at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles and was headlined by Terence Crawford against Israel Madrimov for the latter’s WBA super welterweight title.
Crawford got the win by unanimous decision, and the fight might have been the perfect follow-up to talks with Canelo. Maybe Canelo’s asking price was a deterrent or there was some other factor. In any case, Alalshikh says he is no longer interested in the fight.
This is boxing and things change all the time. A door that seemingly closes on Tuesday may open again next week. I spoke to a boxing insider who doesn’t think Alalshikh’s stoppage is permanent.
He attributed it more to mind games and negotiating tactics. That said, there has been an acknowledgment that Canelo was considered Crawford’s next desired opponent, but now, a Plan B must be explored even if attention eventually turns back to the Mexican legend.
We’ll see if anything changes, but the rest of Canelo’s career could be spent fighting Berlanga and other fighters believed to be Tier 2 contenders.
