Boxing

Turki Alalshikh Throws Shade At Jake Paul After Winning Canelo Alvarez Contract Talks

Jake Paul received a clear shot from Turki Alalshikh after fight negotiations with Canelo Alvarez sent sour.

Grant Young

Jake Paul looks on during the Kings League world cup nations world cup nations final match between Brasil and Colombia.
Jake Paul looks on during the Kings League world cup nations world cup nations final match between Brasil and Colombia. / IMAGO / Marco Canoniero

On February 6, it seemed all but certain that Jake Paul was going to go toe to toe against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in a blockbuster boxing bout in May 2025.

Prominent members of the boxing media community were asserting that Canelo vs. Paul was a done deal, and were already projecting how much money the two would make together if the fight was sold on PPV.

But the beauty of boxing is that things can change dramatically in a short time. This became the case early Friday morning when Canelo decided to sign a four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh, which is very clearly not going to include any potential fight with Paul.

MORE: Canelo Alvarez's Next 4 Fight Dates And Potential Opponents Revealed

Jake Paul has already made it clear how upset he is about Canelo deciding to go in a different direction, as he made a social media post on February 7 that included him saying, "Breaking news: Canelo Alvarez ducked me Jake Paul and is now an owned slave with no regard for the pride of the Mexican people who support him on US soil. it’s not surprising when his whole career he has done nothing for the sport of boxing outside the ring. I’m the new face of boxing."

Turki Alalshikh was the opposite of upset when the Canelo deal got done, as he made several social media posts showing him flexing his success in finalizing this contract with arguably the sport's biggest boxer.

And Alalshikh even took some time to throw shade Jake Paul's way after taking the Canelo fight away from him.

ESPN boxing insider Mike Coppinger wrote on X, "'Canelo fights only real fighters,' Turki Alalshikh told ESPN."

Given Paul's background as a YouTuber and prominence on social media before ever entering the ring, some within the boxing space refuse to call him a real fighter — as indicated by Alalshikh's words.

It will be interesting to see whether Paul musters a response to this diss.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Boxing, Women’s Basketball, and the New York Mets for On SI. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years, and he thinks it’s time that Canelo Álvarez fights David Benavidez.