‘Dana White?’: Turki Alalshikh Teases Surprise Role in Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford Fight, Fans Speculate

It’s official—Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford is happening. Well, almost. According to Turki Alalshikh, the fight is pretty much set, but Canelo has asked for some breathing room to focus on his upcoming bout against William Scull, where he’s gunning to become the Undisputed Super Middleweight champion for a third time. But there’s something else causing a stir: a mystery promoter.

Alalshikh and the TKO group, represented by UFC CEO Dana White, have been rather vocal about how boxing is a broken sport that doesn’t just need fixing but a complete overhaul. What they mean by that has primarily been touted as a trip to monopoly-land, and the exact details have been shrouded in secrecy.

In line with this Alalshikh has also hinted at something big during his announcement.

“After the third of May, we will announce the details about the Canelo and the Crawford fight, and there’s a surprise about who will be the promoter of this big fight and the platform you will see it in it.”, he said. 

However, with White being set as the bastion for successful combat sports promotion by the Saudis, it won’t be particularly surprising to see him lead the charge.

Regardless, fans have been scratching their head after the announcement. “Dana doesn’t seem like that much of a surprise tbh. If it’s not Dana, which I am fairly certain it is, then it’ll be Eddie Hearn,” one fan speculated.

But not everyone is convinced. Another fan pointed out, “If Dana is involved. Perhaps ESPN? Their 8-year partnership with TopRank ends in August.” The mention of ESPN only added fuel to the fire, with people theorizing that this fight could be part of some massive broadcast deal.

Then there’s the doomsday scenario for some: “If it’s Dana we’re about to see this fight in the APEX.” Fans were trolling White for possibly making the UFC Apex the venue for the fight to cut costs. Others even threw Netflix into the mix, with one comment stating, “@MonteroOnBoxing Dana White and Netflix?”

It should be noted that such theories are quite pointless at this moment, and the only question that should be asked is: will the reveal live up to the hype?

Meanwhile, with this announcement, the Saudi Arabian Minister also gave updates on the new Boxing league they are planning to create with White as the CEO.

Alalshikh’s message for WBA and WBC

The man who transformed Saudi Arabia into the next pugilism capital of the world has clarified that he doesn’t intend to go behind the people he’s been in business with for the last few years.

So, he claims that the new boxing league is not here to go against any of the already established world governing bodies of boxing.

When the announcement was made about the founding of this league, with Ring Magazine being at the forefront of it, fans were wondering what would happen to the likes of the World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC).

“This league not against anyone. Not against the commission, not against the promoters, this is my opinion and this is from my side…We will still see the 4 belts and the commission and the promoters.”, Alalshikh said.

It should be noted that the new promotion doesn’t have to actively pit itself against the existing world order, it just has to bet an insurmountable amount of cash on itself, and that is something Saudi Arabia is happy to do.

This practice, in the long run, could eventually lead to real-world circumstances, rendering the rest of the competition obsolete.