Terence Crawford on September 9, 2025. IMAGO / Hoganphotos

Terence Crawford Reveals Why Turki Alalshikh Didn't Want Canelo Alvarez Fight

Originally posted on KO on SI | By Grant Young | Last updated Oct 1, 2025 7:00 AM ET

It's going to take the boxing community a long time to move on from the September 13 showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, which was broadcast on Netflix and took place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This was one of the biggest boxing fights in history by all metrics. And the fight itself lived up to the hype, as Crawford (who was the underdog) produced one of the best performances this century, dominating Canelo across the 12-round bout to take his undisputed super middleweight belts.

In hindsight, it's clear as day why this fight was made: It was a legacy-defining match between two of the best modern boxers, both of whom are big names, which was guaranteed to be a box office hit (and it absolutely was).

However, hindsight is 20/20. In the lead-up to this bout, there was some speculation about whether this was really the fight to make. And the reason for that is that Crawford was jumping up two weight divisions to challenge Canelo. Many felt like this was a bridge too far for Crawford, which obviously proved untrue.

Terence Crawford Shares Turki Alalshikh's Hesitation for Putting Canelo Fight Together

The person who was ultimately responsible for getting this fight put together (and paying each guy) is the notorious Turki Alalshikh, who is the head of Riyadh Season. But Turki wasn't always on board with matching Crawford and Canelo up, which Crawford conveyed during his September 30 appearance on Andre Ward's ALL THE SMOKE Fight podcast.

"Turki, he didn't want the fight at first because he was just like, 'The size difference.' You know?" Crawford said to Ward.

"Same thing like everybody else, the size difference. He was like, 'Eh, you can fight somebody else at a smaller weight class, and it would be safer for you. I don't think you should move up two weight classes and fight him.'

"And I'm like, 'Nah, that's who I want. I don't want nobody else. That's why I want.' I said, 'Who else is there to fight?'" he added. "So, he was just like, 'Ah, we can fight somebody else.' And I was like, 'No. That's why I want.' And he was like, 'Okay.'"