"Not My Problem" Responds Canelo Alvarez To Saudi Boxing Chief

Alvarez dismisses Al Sheikh's criticism as the Crawford fight negotiations fall apart

Canelo Alvarez tackles the debate about the suggested match with Terence Crawford /

By Mohamed Bahaa

In current boxing debates, Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford have grown to be prominent players. Further cemented Crawford's reputation as a four-division champion was his hard-fought triumph over Israil Madrimov on Saturday, securing him the WBA junior middleweight championship.

Alvarez, the current super middleweight champion, started his marketing campaign on Monday for his September 14 clash with Edgar Berlanga.

But on Tuesday, talks on a possible February fight between Alvarez and Crawford come to a stand-off. After Alvarez asked a stop in negotiations until after his Berlanga fight, Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al Sheikh withdrew financial backing for the bout. Al Sheikh charged Alvarez with being "afraid" of Crawford, which set off the reply from the Mexican boxing star.

"I respect everyone, but I don't appreciate the way [Al Sheikh] is speaking," Alvarez said. “It's his problem, not my problem. I didn't ask for a fight. If he wants a fight, he needs to do it my way, and not his way.” 

Alvarez also considered Crawford's difficult 154-pound debut and discussed his ideas on maybe facing him at 168 pounds. “Crawford knows now. He experimented 154 and he knows [what I would do to him]. Maybe he does 168 for a big check,” said Alvarez. “Everyone wants to fight me for a payday. I am the face of boxing.”

By midweek, Crawford responded to the matter from his vantage point on a possible confrontation with Alvarez. " I don't think [Alvarez is] ducking me," Crawford stated “Canelo has fought so many world champions who were threats that everybody said would be a tough task. One thing about us fighters is that we are not scared to fight each other. It just has to make sense business-wise. For that matter I think Canelo is more so nervous of losing to a smaller guy like myself than being scared of me. I just think he knows that I have the tools and ability to disrupt anything that he brings to the table. Canelo is very strong and punches very hard but you're going to need more than just power and strength to beat Terence Crawford. And I think for a little small guy from 135 to go to 168 and defeat Canelo Alvarez would be a big tarnish on his legacy as well.”

The focus moves to Crawford's next action as Alvarez takes a temporary backoff. Al Sheikh claims that the soon-to-be 37-year-old is anticipated to play Vergil Ortiz Jr., as Ortiz defeated Serhii Bohachuk on Saturday.