Notebook: Canelo, Alalshikh go to battle outside the ring
Shakur Stevenson weighing options; Benavidez return in works; Tszyu lands title opportunity; Tyson-Paul set for re-launch; Title Sports show; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Canelo Alvarez found himself in two fights this week, both wars of words for entirely different reasons with different opponents.
First, the unified super middleweight champion and boxing’s biggest star hit the road with along with undefeated challenger Edgar Berlanga and their teams for a two-city media tour to New York on Monday and Los Angeles on Tuesday to promote their recently announced fight set to headline a PBC on Prime pay-per-view card Sept.14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
But in addition to Mexican superstar Alvarez going at it with the mouthy Puerto Rican Berlanga in a renewal of one of boxing’s most glorious national rivalries, Alvarez also found himself in a rhetorical battle with Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, who is spearheading the country’s lavish spending on boxing and throwing around tens of million dollars to secure the fight he wants.
One of the bouts Alalshikh has been hot for and outspoken about is Alvarez defending against Terence Crawford, one of his favorite fighters, as long as he defeated Israil Madrimov on Saturday night in Los Angeles in the first Riyadh Season-backed card to take place outside of Saudi Arabia.
Crawford, the unified welterweight champion and the pound-for-pound king to many, who also very much wants the fight with Alvarez, had a much tougher than expected time in a close unanimous decision over Madrimov to take his WBA 154-pound title in a move up to junior middleweight.
How Crawford might fare moving up two more weight classes to meet Alvarez at 168 pounds has been debated since Alalshikh brought up the fight, one Alvarez has not shown much interest in.
Now it is Alvarez and Alalshikh trading harsh words with Alvarez unmoved by Alalshikh’s largesse when it comes to fight purses.
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