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How Jake Paul lost his dream fight with Canelo – for now
On Saturday night, Jake Paul will box Julio César Chávez Jr. It might be the fight he needs after his confused, controversial encounter with Mike Tyson, but it is not the fight he wanted.
If Paul had gotten his way – something the YouTuber is so used to, by this point – his next outing would have seen him share a ring with the face of boxing: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
It is a bout he has craved for years, but one long dismissed by fans as nowhere near competitive enough to even be worth entertaining. One that Canelo would surely not humour. Yes, it would mark the easiest and perhaps most-significant payday of the Mexican's career, but surely the pound-for-pound star would not give an influencer the opportunity? The feeling, for a long time, was that Canelo would not.
And then...
Then came a cluster of days in February, when talks over a super-fight between Canelo and Terence Crawford were hijacked. Fans found themselves asking, ‘What on earth is going on with Canelo vs Crawford?’, ‘Has Turki Alalshikh finally met a boxer he could not convince?’, and, ‘What does Jake Paul have to do with all of this?’
Depending on the day, hour, or even minute, the answers to those questions might have differed. This was a Rubik’s Cube of a saga, with multiple hands seemingly picking up and putting down the puzzle, twisting and turning it until, in the end, Saudi adviser Alalshikh placed it on the table, with every little square in its proper place.
What he really put on the table was a contract, or perhaps a series of connecting deals, for Canelo. That dictated that over the next two years, the Mexican icon would box four times as part of Riyadh Season. He would face William Scull in Saudi Arabia in May – in an undisputed super-middleweight title fight – before squaring off with Crawford in Las Vegas in September, and then he'd fight in February and October 2026.
Canelo’s future opponents are almost irrelevant; the Crawford match-up will be the biggest – not just of this run, but of either man’s career, and nearly of this generation. What holds it back, in truth, is that it is a contrived contest, given the natural weight disparity between Canelo, 34, and the lighter Crawford, 37. Yes, it will be a seismic meeting of pound-for-pound greats, but it is not a necessary one. Perhaps it is the first example of Alalshikh, who effectively runs big-time boxing nowadays, prioritising a match-up that he wants, rather than bouts that divisions need and fans desire.
Canelo vs Crawford has been on Alalshikh’s wishlist for some time. Canelo vs Paul has been on... well, Paul’s wishlist for some time (and, admittedly, the lists of fans who want to see the 28-year-old humbled).
At the start of February, Canelo vs Crawford began to look like a serious proposition for September, but within a few days, rumours grew that Canelo could box Paul in May. It is possible that Canelo felt he could take both paydays, crushing Paul in a fight that would not endanger his contest with Crawford. It is also possible that Alalshikh, who has expressed a distaste for influencer boxing, did not want Canelo to have his cake and eat it. Soon thereafter, The Ring, a magazine owned by Alalshikh, reported that Canelo vs Crawford was off.
It felt like a message from Alalshikh to Canelo, which would chime with past tensions between the pair – tensions that have made the Mexican one of the last big stars to enter the Saudi boxing sphere.
An update from journalist Mike Coppinger suggested as much: “@Turki_alalshikh is suspending efforts to finalize contracts for Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford in September in the wake of Alvarez’s novelty bout with Jake Paul,” he tweeted, citing sources. “Alalshikh [had] offered Canelo a lucrative three-fight deal that would start with the Crawford bout.”
However, Canelo and Alalshikh were able to find a compromise, one that removed Paul from the equation. “In a stunning, 11th-hour development with the Jake Paul fight at the one-yard line, Canelo Alvarez has instead closed a four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season to salvage the Terence Crawford mega fight in September,” Coppinger tweeted. Per Coppinger, Alalshikh told him: “Canelo fights only real fighters.”
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Around this time, Paul lashed out at Coppinger. Earlier that day, the journalist had questioned Paul’s claim that he would be the 'A-side' in his next fight (against Canelo, in other words), causing a back-and-forth between the writer and the YouTuber.
All the while, Alalshikh celebrated his signing of Canelo, while criticising pundits and reports that had talked up the prospect of the Paul fight. Amid his callouts, he tweeted: “Don’t mess with the lion… 4 fights for Canelo with Riyadh Season … The Deal is done … A Lion doesn’t lose sleep over [the] opinion of a sheep… Fear the lion, not the jungle.” Crawford added: “I’m waiting on Canelo in September and going to shock the world in Riyadh Season!”
That marked the end of a busy working week for Alalshikh and Canelo, and a less fruitful one for Paul. Still, the YouTuber is used to getting his way, and he may yet feel he can secure his dream fight with Canelo. And by the end of 2026, once Canelo has had his Riyadh Season cake, he might just want to eat with Paul.
Jake Paul vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr will be streamed exclusively on DAZN PPV, Saturday, June 28. Buy the PPV now here
