Canelo Alvarez and Turki Alalshikh’s relationship is off to a rough start.
Hours after Terence Crawford defeated Israil Madrimov to become a four-weight world champion, Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, expressed an interest in booking a bout between Crawford and Alvarez, who is also a four-weight titleholder.
However, Alvarez quickly poured cold water on the idea, noting that his focus was squarely on a clash with Edgar Berlanga scheduled for September 14 in Las Vegas. ‘Canelito’ also made his thoughts on Alalshikh quite clear.
“My response to Turki is this: Yesterday they texted me, and they said, ‘We can talk about the fight in February with Crawford?’ They text me yesterday,” Alvarez told Fight Hub TV. “I said, ‘Look, I don’t want to talk about any other fight. I’m focused 100 percent on this fight.’ Look, I don’t like the way he talks. I’m not in this position because of anything. If he wants to work with me, it’s in my way, not in their way. I don’t need it.”
Since then, Alalshikh claims to have lost interest in working with Alvarez, instead opting to focus on some of this year’s big events, including a Wembley Stadium card headlined by Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois and an anticipated rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
Still, that didn’t stop Alalshikh from snapping back at Alvarez, accusing the Guadalajara native of chasing easy fights in a lengthy post on social media.
“I heard what Canelo said, that he respects me but doesn’t like the way we do business,” Alalshikh wrote on X. “As for him respecting me, it doesn’t matter to me if he does or not. As for the way I do business, I know why he doesn’t like it, because I only target big fights at fair prices, so of course anyone who likes easy fights won’t like that. And I know how he feels after losing to Bivol, so he’s been looking for easier fights ever since. Also, I’m not the one who’s afraid of fighting Benavidez or Crawford.
“Therefore, I knew he was wasting our time and making excuses with big amounts of money that can’t be paid. So I’m continuing my way to make big fights that serve the boxing world, and he’s on his way to making easy show-only fights.”
Canelo Alvarez reacts to Alalshikh’s latest online jab
Alvarez has since reacted to Alalshik’s latest dig online, utilizing only a pair of laughing emojis.
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) August 7, 2024
Canelo Alvarez is 61-2 overall with 39 of his victories coming by way of knockout. His only losses have come against Floyd Mayweather in 2013 and Dmitry Bivol in 2022. Since the loss to Bivol, ‘Canelito’ has won four straight, including unanimous decision W’s against Gennady Golovkin, John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, and Jaime Munguía.
Next, Alvarez will defend his WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight titles against Berlanga at T-Mobile Arena.
