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Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford Undercard Fights Announced

Originally posted on KO on SI | By Grant Young | Last updated Aug 11, 2025 10:39 AM ET

The iconic showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford is now nearly a month away, as these two juggernauts of the sweet science will be facing off on September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Both Canelo and Crawford are now in the heart of their respective training camps, which means there hasn't been much chatter to come from either fighter in recent weeks. However, there has been a lot of speculation about who else will be fighting on the undercard of Canelo vs. Crawford.

All indications were that Canelo vs. Crawford was going to be more top-heavy than other recent supercards that Riyadh Season has had a part in, since the expectation was that TKO/Zuffa boxing was going to use this main event as a platform to showcase some of the up-and-coming fighters they either had or were about to sign.

And that is indeed the case, as Turki Alalshikh revealed three Canelo vs. Crawford undercard fights with an August 11 Instagram post — and none of the fighters included are household names.

Turki Alalashikh Reveals Three Canelo vs Crawford Undercard Bouts

The first undercard fight included in Turki's Instagram post is Callum Walsh (12-0, 4 KOs) vs. Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-0, 15 KOs). Given that Walsh has long been associated with Dana White and the UFC (despite not having anything to do with fighting MMA), he was expected to fight on this Zuffa Boxing card. However, he undoubtedly faces the toughest test of his career in an undefeated Vargas Jr.

The next fight Turki Alalshikh announced was Christian Mbilli (29-0, 24 KOs) vs. Lester Martinez (19-0, 16 KOs). Mbilli is considered one of the brightest prospects in all of boxing, and currently holds the WBC interim world super middleweight belt.

While neither of these guys has a lot of name value right now, true boxing fans know this will be a high-level banger between two KO artists.

And the third fight announced is between Mohammed Alakel (4-0, 0 KOs) and John Ornelas (5-2-1, 2 KOs). There isn't much to say about this bout, as both of these boxers are unheralded at the moment.

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A post shared by TURKI ALALSHIKH تركي آل الشيخ (@turki)

Initial Canelo vs. Crawford Undercard Reveal Reaction

A lot of the initial feedback on these three fights is negative, given that many fans were hoping this card would be stacked with the sport's biggest names.

However, the writing has been on the wall for some time that this was meant to be a showcase for future TKO/Zuffa Boxing fighters, with Canelo vs. Crawford stealing the show in the main event.

This article first appeared on KO on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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