On Thursday BoxingScene learned that various social media accounts had learned that The Ring magazine had learned that a source had learned that the super-middleweight fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence Crawford was no longer happening on September 13.
This came as a surprise, of course, for it was only on Tuesday that BoxingScene had learned that various social media accounts had learned that The Ring magazine had learned that a source had learned that Alvarez and Crawford were set to meet on September 13 in Las Vegas.
With all that learning, one would assume by now that we had all learned our lesson. But no, as it turns out, we have not. Instead, we continue to prioritise speed over substance and engagement farming over facts and have by now grown accustomed to hitting delete no sooner than we have hit send. Believing everything we read, and everything we are told, we seemingly never learn. In this instance, too, the news was easier to believe on account of the fact that Turki Alalshikh, boxing’s most powerful man, now happens to own The Ring and therefore has an outlet, an esteemed one, via which he can spread his every thought, fantasy, and feeling.
That is not to say Alvarez versus Crawford was never going to happen on September 13, but clearly it is now destined to be one of those situations in which we learn every detail about a fight when all we really want is for it to take place. That it was mooted for September, a whole seven months away, suggested from the outset that it had the potential to be more of a long-running soap opera than a straightforward boxing match and now of this we have confirmation. Now, whether on Thursday the fight was off for good, or Alalshikh, via The Ring, was merely expressing his discontent, it seems patently obvious that we are headed towards that sort of territory.
If so, some may argue that the drama and uncertainty of it all serves only to increase the anticipation should it one day happen. However, it is just as likely that protracted and public negotiations have the opposite effect and will in fact start to irritate fans who would rather just know the fight has been signed, sealed, and delivered. For them, the fans, there is no need for premature announcements, nor for that matter a constant stream of on-or-off updates delivered to social media accounts interested only in harvesting engagement. Sometimes, it’s true, you can know too much.
In the case of Alvarez versus Crawford, none of us needed to know either that it was “made” if it wasn’t, or indeed that it was “off” if it later turns out to once again be “on”. But that’s the thing with boxing and its coverage these days. These days it is seemingly not enough to just let things happen and be dealt with professionally. These days the preference is to always have something to say when something happens, whether big or small, or of interest or not, so as not to be caught either by surprise or on one’s heels.
The media, in fact, is now one indistinguishable slush of websites and social media accounts all saying the same thing within minutes of a tweet being tweeted or a press release getting released and all hitting “post” at roughly the same time, tethered by their desperation to be first.
The men with money, meanwhile, know that they now have a willing flock of carrier pigeons to give elevation to whatever is on their mind. As such, they too have become seduced by the fun and immediacy of it all. They too are in a rush to tell you their every thought, break news prematurely, and receive that coveted dopamine hit when their phone starts to buzz and they are told by a fan just how bloody excellent they are.
That feeling alone motivates them, one suspects. It also leads to them oversharing and thus becoming susceptible to the odd embarrassing moment when a deal goes awry or someone saves the receipts.
This has become common practice in boxing, a symptom of the rise of YouTube interviews and the eagerness of promoters to both do them and use them as the best way to express their views without being challenged. A promoter like Eddie Hearn, for example, has on occasion become tangled in his own web of contradictions, yet does, to his credit, at least own it, laugh it off, and acknowledge that oversharing and hypocrisy are prerequisites of his job. Others, too, have found themselves in the same traps, all of which could have been avoided, or at least spotted, were it not for the insidious nature of social media and the ever-growing need to be first.
Now it is almost inevitable that promoters will be caught out from time to time and that fights will be subjected to the will-they-won’t-they of a bad romcom. After all, the very practice of acting first and thinking later begets these kinds of issues, as do the internal politics of a sport of egos and risk – both physical and financial. To make things public is not only a wonderful way for these men to inflate their own egos and sense of importance, but it also happens to be a shrewd negotiating tactic, for nobody, whether boxer or businessman, wants to be publicly shamed or embarrassed online.
Alalshikh, the key to unlocking Alvarez versus Crawford, hates that more than anyone. Which is perhaps why, after learning that Alvarez versus Crawford was off, and after Alalshikh had learned that ESPN had learned that The Ring had learned that Eddie Hearn had learned that Alvarez was close to committing to a grotesque spectacle against Jake Paul in May, we just as soon learned that The Ring had learned that a source had learned that Turki Alalshikh had learned that Alvarez might be open to a four-fight deal with him after all. Not only that, one of the four fights – the second – would take place on September 13 and involve Terence Crawford of all people.
Yes, just like that, by Friday morning it was back on. Better yet, we now had four Canelo fights confirmed rather than just one: a fight in Riyadh in May; a fight against Crawford in Las Vegas in September; another fight in Riyadh in February 2026; and one more in October of that same year.
Of course, if anything is to change on that front, and it will, we will be informed of that as well, at which point the whole news cycle will immediately start up again. We will learn from various social media accounts what The Ring has learned from their source and we will, despite learning so much, have learned nothing at all.
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