Turki Alalshikh’s UFC 306: A Direct Challenge To Canelo Alvarez On September 14th

Turki Alalshikh is sponsoring the UFC 306 event on September 14th at the Sphere in Las Vegas, which will be held on the same night as Canelo Alvarez’s fight against Edgar Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena.

Canelo won’t be happy to hear Turki plans to sponsor the UFC 306 event, which would stymie his scheduled event on the same night.

Turki’s Bold Prediction: “We Will Eat Him”

Turki told ESPN that his sponsored UFC 306 event on September 14th will “eat” Canelo’s fight card on the same night against Berlanga.

It’s unclear why Turki is taking a combative stance with Canelo for the September 14th date, especially when he’s someone that he wants for an event next year. If Canelo had done something to Turki, I could have understood his desire to outcompete his event on September 14th.

Did Canelo do something to set Turki off? He’s helping out Turki’s good friend, promoter Eddie Hearn, by fighting his Matchroom fighter, Edgar Berlanga.

Turki says he still wants to make a fight between Canelo and Terence Crawford and give Alvarez a “fair price.” If you’re Canelo, you’re probably thinking, ‘$100 million is a fair price for a fight I stand to gain nothing from.’ Canelo would be helping out Turki’s good friend, Crawford, but he doesn’t owe him anything.

Crawford could help Canelo by at least protecting him from the backlash he’ll receive by proving himself at 168 against David Benavidez.

Alalshikh says that if Canelo asks for too much money, he’ll get Crawford any fighter he desires. However, Crawford only wants Canelo. That’s it. He doesn’t want to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, and there’s no one popular in any of the other weight classes that Crawford has any interest in facing before hanging up his gloves. He only wants that Canelo fight, which may be out of his reach.

Crawford can already get any fighter he wants, but he’s fixated on Canelo, the elusive one that only Turki has a chance of getting. The reality is Turki’s getting off on the wrong foot with Canelo if he wants him to agree to fight Crawford. You can argue that Crawford is spoiled rotten and doesn’t want to give up on getting the Canelo match, even though he doesn’t deserve it.

Crawford is no more deserving of a Canelo fight than Edgar Berlanga. At least with him, he fights at 168 and is Canelo’s WBA mandatory. Crawford hasn’t even fought at 154 yet, and he might even lose that match next Saturday night against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd.

Whatever sweet deal that Turki offers Canelo to fight Crawford, it won’t be as good when you factor in the money he’s losing due to his Berlanga event being crippled by the UFC 306 card.

Crawford Only Wants Canelo

There is no one else that Crawford wants to fight, but Canelo, and it’s understandable why. It’s the combination of money and legacy for Crawford. He gets a big payday and the chance to cement his legacy. Canelo gets nothing but money, which he already has enough of. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Canelo’s fortune is estimated at $250 million.

I don’t know what His Excellency Turki plans to offer Canelo for a fight against Crawford, but I’d be willing to bet that it’s nowhere close to that.

“I’ll give Canelo what I think is a fair price. If he accepts it, he deals directly with me to finish the deal,” said Turki Alalshikh to Mike Coppinger on X about his desire to make a fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.

“I don’t want anyone in the middle. “We will eat him, said Turki about his UFC 306 event getting the better of Canelo’s on September 14th.

“I guaranteed Crawford a big fight. I want Canelo for Crawford, and Crawford wants Canelo,” Turki continued. “But if Canelo is crazy [asking for too much money], I will still guarantee Crawford any fight he wants.”

It would be interesting to know what kind of money Turki feels would be a “fair price” for Canelo because he’s already done quite well in past fights. Given Canelo stands to gain nothing from the fight and won’t receive any credit for beating Crawford, it would have to be an enormous payday for it to be worthwhile.

Whatever price Canelo has for a match against David Benavidez, it would make sense for him to want similar dough for a fight against Crawford, and there’s no gain from that match. Canelo was on record for wanting $200 million smackers for a fight against Benavidez. Well, that’s a good price for a fight against Crawford.

Canelo would be better off fighting Benavidez because he would receive credit for winning, and fans wouldn’t trash him if he lost or struggled to win.

Options for Crawford if Canelo Prices himself out

Jaron ‘Boot’ Ennis
David Benavidez
David Morrell

If Crawford feels brave enough to fight Canelo, he shouldn’t have any qualms about facing David Benavidez or David Morrell. They’re not old like Canelo or super popular, but Crawford would gain a lot of attention by fighting one of them. If he loses to them, he will have a built-in excuse. He could blame it on their size, youth, and power.

Fans would be eager to see Crawford jump in the ring with Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol, but he won’t do that. To get the big money and get fans interested, Crawford has got to make the ultimate sacrifice by fighting someone that fans feel he has no chance of beating.

Fighting Beterbiev or Bivol would put Crawford in a situation where he would be a tremendous underdog, but the publicity he would receive would be enormous.

Crawford’s more likely option if he can’t get the Canelo fight is to fight WBC junior middleweight champion, Sebastian Fundora. Turki could easily set up that match as an alternative. However, the public would not be super excited to see that fight.

Fundora was knocked out last year by Brian Mendoza, and some believe the only reason he defeated Tim Tszyu last March was the terrible cut he received during the contest.

Crawford said he wanted to fight Fundora when he chose to move up to 154, but he decided to face Errol Spence instead. Crawford then went with his second option, Israil Madrimov.