Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi Arabian power broker, spoke to ESPN boxing reporter Mike Coppinger on Friday afternoon, and offered details on the Canelo four-fight deal.
The rumor mill has been churning heavily this week, with reports of Canelo Alvarez’s supposed next opponent dropping here and there, only to be proven false. Canelo vs. Terence Crawford was off and on, a Canelo vs. Jake Paul fight was teased and then apparently exploded, with the Mexican pack leader deciding to hop aboard the Saudi train for a spell. This event was scheduled to offer more clarity on the wild goings on of the last 48 hours. The session got off to a late start. A 2:30 pm ET kickoff for a promised sesh on X came and went. A post by Coppinger advertising the get got scrubbed after 3:15 pm ET. Interestingly, the interview then dropped on YouTube, on ESPN’s account. They boast 13.3M subscribers versus the 325,000 plus followers to the RING Magazine X account.
Coppinger In the Home Studio
Coppinger from his home studio asked Turki Alalshikh how things came together. Turki said it started in London two weeks ago at the RING awards ceremony. “I met Canelo,” the sport-runner said. “We discovered the problem is the people in the middle.” They kept talking, and a three-fight deal was agreed to, he continued. The first of the three would occur in September, against “the legend, (Terence) Crawford.” He called that “the biggest fight” of the moment and maybe of all-time. (Yes, Turki isn’t shy about using that promoter voice to try and whet appetites.) Then, he foresaw another Canelo fight between February and May 2026, with a third battle in September/October 2026.
Canelo said he wanted to fight in May, and Turki says the Mexican asked if maybe Team Turki would want that one, too. It depends against who, Turki responded. Canelo and Crawford accepted Saudi Arabia as the site for their scrap, he told Copp. But he recognizes the import of the collision in the US, so he thought America would be the better staging ground.
‼️EXCLUSIVE TO THE RING: Canelo Álvarez sends a message to his fans and to Jake Paul. pic.twitter.com/YgYb3F1W5q
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) February 8, 2025
Then, two weeks ago, he heard talk of a Canelo vs Paul tango. Turki wasn’t keen on that, deeming it more of a “novelty” endeavor than a matchup desired by fans. He admitted that he gave the wrong info (to Copp) “to make them go to another site. When I know that big appointments between one big platform and the camp of the two fighters and…doing posters, and choosing arena.. then I finished the deal in five minutes.” He told Canelo he didn’t think the Jake (Paul) fight fit him, his legacy. “You can have it after 30 years when he’s 60,” he cracked to Copp. He didn’t really want the Jake fight, he said, and they quickly closed the four-fight deal.
Turki said he did not match the offer for Canelo vs. Jake, “he’s a smart guy, he knows what’s better for him.”
“In this age, this time, we must have this kind of legend, and fighters fight great fights,” Turki said. “Canelo is now mid-30s; we don’t want to waste time.”
MrBeast: A Potential Jake Paul Foe?
Turki said they can bring MrBeast out and have a Disney belt to pit Jake against MrBeast, who has 358 million YT subscribers. “A YouTuber belt” would be up for grabs, he said. (It isn’t clear whether he brought that concept to Team Jake Paul or not.)
The first fight, in May, who might that be against? “You will be the first reporter I tell when (it is made,)” Turki said. Plus, he shared that the May fight will be in the US time zone. “We are going to Vegas, New York, and London,” he said, pointing to a respect for the domains of the principals. NY and London cards will be “Ring Magazine cards,” he said. Those cards will be tied to a video game.
He mentioned his February 22 card, which he said is stacked…” then to London (Eubank v Benn) and NY for Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney parallel bouts, Canelo on May 3, and then a July/August in Saudi Arabia. Then Canelo vs. Crawford in Vegas, in a stadium. In October, we will see the Haney-Garcia rematch”, he continued. “Teofimo Lopez will be on that card. Also, Inoue versus Nakatani, ideally.” Yes, he is juggling a ton. “Inoue is special,” he said, citing the relationship between SA and Japan.
Coppinger asked about the resurgent heavyweight division. “We are not only focusing on heavyweights,” he said, steering away from that subject. Everyone loves the heavyweights, he said. Wladimir Klitschko’s name came up. “Let’s see what happens…I am not a promoter, my brother,” he said. We “do it for sport,” and he wants to do it with “some cards at a good price.”
Some, not all, I guess…
Next for Oleksandr Usyky? He will touch base on February 22 and figure that out, Turki said.
Turki Has Nothing Against Tank Davis
Turki wants to see Shakur Stevenson versus Gervonta “Tank” Davis. “I don’t take anything personal; I’m a professional. I don’t have to like you to talk to you. We need to see Tank in big fights more.” David Benavidez will also come to Saudi Arabia, Turki teased. Canelo wants a rematch with Dmitriy Bivol, and “I hope one day for Canelo to have Benavidez.” He said Bud Crawford deserves a big one, and their fight will be better than Canelo’s last one.
Talk more about landing Canelo…”It is the most searched thing in Google in America and our country, the Canelo-Crawford-no Jake fight,” Turki said. “I think it will be the biggest.” He likened it to the World Cup soccer finale between Messi and Renaldo. “I have the support of my country,” he said, calling himself a “soldier.”
Turki Doing Boxing With Dana White?
More material—Is there a boxing league to come, with Dana White? “The vision will be clear in 2-3 months, we will know,” he said. “To reach the peak, you need time. It’s a long-time project, not a short term.”
And are there too many titles? “It’s a strange sport, that’s why I love the Ring belt,” he said.
Of Jake Paul, Turki said he is talented but could find someone else to fight rather than Canelo. He said he has been working on a Canelo deal for months, not weeks, which was the time frame for a Canelo vs Jake tussle.
Turki Alalshikh Wants Alcatraz Card
Turki asked Copp about an event at Alcatraz. Copp said hell yes. “If the mayor accepts” terms, it will happen. In the mountains, at the pyramids, maybe the Eiffel Tower, etc, he can picture events at all these places—also, the big aircraft carrier in NY. Maybe the Mann’s Theater in Hollywood, he mentioned. Yes, he will be around for a while. “If I still live long,” he said.
He said that he likes Copp and he deserves the interview. He basically said sorry for almost fibbing for a cause. “You are a great man, a successful man, and you have a great future.” Copp said thanks for preventing Canelo vs. Paul and they parted ways.
Interest Built On X
2:30 pm ET, I am in! Wanna hear and see from Turki re @Canelo @terencecrawford and all that. Posting to @FightsATW! pic.twitter.com/VhXJ7OEEFp
— Michael Woods (@Woodsy1069) February 7, 2025
Before that YT drop, interested parties piled up in the queue, with X showing 19,000 accounts waiting to peep the chat as of 2:54 pm. As I waited and sipped coffee, I pondered the state of the game from a fan but more so from a media perspective. “News” is released differently now, and American boxing media is not used to news breaking at midnight East Coast time. Turki is steering, and we are not the center of attention in the realm of professional boxing, not like “before.”
As 3 pm ET came and went, I thought more about the state of the sport. I’d woken up Friday morning to see a release from Jake Paul’s MVP. Paul blasted Canelo for being a tease, basically. The 28-year-old Ohio native, making Puerto Rico his home base, also took aim at unnamed media for not being transparent about their allegiance. Straight up, his critique meshed with mine to a degree: I too have noticed we receive so much “news” from unsourced persons these days. This leads to more dissemination of rumors painted as facts. That can make things more like a silly soap opera, and it can also lead to frustration, with an absence of on-the-record representatives leaving a vacuum to be filled with speculation. So, it was good to see Turki taking questions.
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