Turki Alalshikh gets his man: Canelo Alvarez signs four-fight deal with Riyadh Season, with Terence Crawford bout set for Sept. 13

After a turbulent day with a lot of dueling reports that a fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford was off and one between Alvarez and influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul was on, Turki Alalshikh got the last laugh on Thursday.

The chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia and boxing's top power broker announced on social media that he had signed Alvarez to a four-fight deal. He specified none of the fights. In his video on social media, he said Alvarez would compete "in the biggest fight in the history of boxing in September," an obvious reference to the Sept. 13 bout planned between Alvarez and Crawford.

Alvarez will fight a tune-up fight in May in Riyadh, then will face Crawford in a mega-fight in September, with two more Alvarez bouts set for 2026.

This crazy day couldn't have worked out for boxing fans. There were numerous reports that a May bout between Alvarez and Paul was done. Promoter Eddie Hearn, who has worked closely with Alalshikh and promoted Alvarez fights, said at a news conference in London that Alvarez could make $100 million for fighting Paul.

It wouldn't have been a competitive fight -- the online sportsbook Sportsbetting.ag had Alvarez at -2500 and Paul at +1100 -- and was hard to take seriously as a boxing fan. 

But that appears by the boards now as Alalshikh got the deal with the man he's been chasing for the better part of the last year, and the super fight is on.

Alvarez is one of the great pound-for-pound fighters in the world and is among the greatest of the 21st century. Other than money, a bout between Alvarez and Paul never made sense. It would have been hard for Alvarez to walk away from what likely would have been a $100 million payday for little more than a hard sparring session.

Alalshikh, though, made that point moot by negotiating a deal with Alvarez that will put him in against boxers at or near his skill level.

The fight with Crawford is an intriguing battle because of the size gap. Crawford was undisputed champion at both 140 and 147 and won a unified title on Aug. 3 at 154 pounds when he defeated Israil Madrimov.

Crawford is 41-0 with 31 KOs. He stopped Errol Spence in nine one-sided rounds in 2023 to become undisputed champion and followed that with a gritty win over a tough Madrimov.

But he'll face an enormous challenge going up to fight Alvarez, who was fought 12 of his last 13 bouts since Dec. 15, 2018, at super middleweight or light heavyweight.

Crawford is No. 2 and Alvarez No. 8 on our pound-for-pound list. 

It was a great day for boxing with all the attention focused on the sport, and Alalshikh proved why he's the sport's most powerful figure when he was able to get Alvarez's signature on a deal to guarantee the mega-bout with Crawford.