Canelo Alvarez has reportedly agreed to a big money four-fight deal with Riyadh Season that puts an end to all this talk of a freakshow match against Jake Paul.
That’s according to The Ring Magazine, the outlet bought and run by Riyadh Season mastermind Turki Alalshikh.
It’s been a back-and-forth week with Canelo news: first it was revealed that he’d fight Terence Crawford in September. Then rumors started swirling that he’d fight Jake Paul in May. Suddenly the Crawford fight was off and Turki was moving on from working with Canelo. All this was reported through The Ring, and thus through sources connected to Turki.
Now those same sources have announced Canelo has signed with Riyadh Season and will fight four times for them: May in Riyadh, September in Las Vegas, and then February and October 2026 in Riyadh.
Canelo Alvarez’s potential opponents for his four-fight Riyadh Season deal: [@MikeCoppinger]
May 2025: Jermall Charlo or Bruno Surace
Sept 2025: Terence Crawford
Feb 2026: Dmitry Bivol, Hamzah Sheeraz or Chris Eubank Jr
Oct 2026: To Be Confirmed pic.twitter.com/isjqMrytmv— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) February 7, 2025
“Canelo’s May return will NOT come against social media influencer Jake Paul,” The Ring declared.
Jermall Charlo and Bruno Surace were named as potential opponents for May, while Terence Crawford is once again being suggested for September.
Alvarez and Alalshikh got off to a rocky start when Canelo refused to sit down and discuss a deal as he prepared for his September fight against Edgar Berlanga. That led to some tense statements from both men, but all seemed smoothed over when Alvarez showed up in Saudi Arabia for Fury vs. Usyk 2 and was photographed all chummy with Alalshikh.
That’s where the seeds of a three fight deal with Riyadh Season were laid out, starting in September with Canelo vs. Crawford. But Canelo went wasn’t done: he used a potential Jake Paul fight as leverage to get as much money as he can.
Canelo agreed to a ridiculous big money fight with Jake Paul for May, possibly the only fight that could generate more money than what Saudi Arabia was offering. Now the Saudis have come back and offered a four fight deal that includes the May date — and we’re sure Canelo is getting compensated to pass on the Paul fight and compete against much tougher and less lucrative options like Charlo and Surace.
Not a bad way to do business!
