Canelo Alvarez on Turki Alalshikh: ‘It’s his problem, not mine. I didn’t ask for a fight’

Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez have been the talk of the boxing world over the last week. 

First, Crawford beat Israil Madrimov in a narrow unanimous decision to claim the WBA junior middleweight title on Saturday and become a four-division champion. 

On Monday, the super middleweight king Alvarez kicked off the promotional tour for his Sept. 14 fight against Edgar Berlanga. 

By Tuesday, Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, had pulled the plug on financing a fight between Alvarez and Crawford after the Mexican star requested to pause negotiations for a proposed February fight until after he faced Berlanga. 

Alalshikh said Alvarez was “afraid” of Crawford. 

“I respect everybody but I don’t like the way [Alalshikh] talks,” Alvarez told Boxing Scene. “It’s his problem, not my problem. I didn’t ask for a fight. If he wants a fight, he needs to do it my way, and not his way.” 

Alvarez also discussed Crawford’s tough fight during his 154-pound debut and the prospects of him knocking out Bud at 168 pounds.

“Crawford knows now. He experimented 154 and he knows [what I would do to him]. Maybe he does 168 for a big check,” said Alvarez. “Everyone wants to fight me for a payday. I am the face of boxing.”

On Wednesday, it was Crawford’s turn to reemerge for comments discussing the prospects of the mega-matchup. 

“I don’t think [Alvarez is] ducking me,” Crawford said on The Jim Rome Show. 

“Canelo has fought so many world champions who were threats that everybody said would be a tough task. One thing about us fighters is that we are not scared to fight each other. It just has to make sense business-wise. For that matter I think Canelo is more so nervous of losing to a smaller guy like myself than being scared of me. I just think he knows that I have the tools and ability to disrupt anything that he brings to the table. Canelo is very strong and punches very hard but you’re going to need more than just power and strength to beat Terence Crawford. And I think for a little small guy from 135 to go to 168 and defeat Canelo Alvarez would be a big tarnish on his legacy as well.”

As Alvarez moves out of the picture for the time being, the soon-to-be 37-year-old Crawford appears set to face Vergil Ortiz Jr., according to Alalshikh, should Ortiz beat Serhii Bohachuk on Saturday. 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.