According to many reports on Thursday evening, Jake Paul and Canelo Alvarez were very close to fighting on May 3 in Las Vegas.
But at the 11th hour, the fight fell through. Alvarez decided that he would not fight against the Youtube sensation became a professional boxer. Instead, he agreed to a four-fight shop with Turki Alalshikh and the Riyadh season to meet Terence Crawford in September.
Alvarez vs. Crawford will be a big event for Pay-Per-View. Alvarez said he just fights against real fighters, not Youtubers. But according to Paul, he had a signed contract ready to go with Alvarez who would have flowed on Netflix, similar to his spectacle with Mike Tyson a few months ago.
“The truth is that you can be purchased,” Paul told Alvarez in a video on social media. “You call me a youtuber, but you’ve never had a boxing match as big as mine.”
Paul explained that the fight was ready to be announced on Tuesday, even showed the poster that would be used to market it.
It doesn’t happen. And we’re probably better for that. He is a real fighter to Alvarez’s credit. And he is undoubtedly the best boxer in this generation – the generation labeled as the “killed boxing.”
And Paul was already grilled Alvarez to do nothing for the future of the sport, especially outside the ring. There is no doubt that this fight promotion would have been a massive click party on social media, similar to Tyson vs. Paul building. Paul just began to fight within this decade, while Alvarez has done this all his life, and Paul would have found every possible moment to remind us of this fact.
As a professional, Alvarez is 62-2-2. The last loss came to Dmitry Bivol in 2022 in an attack where Alvarez tried to gain weight. He is 5-0 ago. And the other loss? It was to Floyd Mayweather.
At the same time, Paul continues to say that his goal is to become a world champion. No one denies that the battles Alvarez, who are 34 years old, would have been the toughest test yet. Viral knockouts of former NBA and UFC opponents such as Nate Robinson, Ben Asken and Tyron Woodley put Paul on the map, but the boxes he met professionally are nowhere to be as decorated as Alvarez.
No one denies that this would have been the biggest fight since Paul squared with Tyson, but that they were really a joke. Tyson was no chance. If anything, Paul took it easy on him in recent rounds.
A struggle with Alvarez would have been very, very different, as the younger, less experienced Paul would have been the one with concern about safety.
It is probably for the best for everyone that this struggle does not happen. Paul will find another way to entertain us and deliver a massive event in what he decides to do the next. That’s what he does best. He will always be able to say that one of the faces on boxing anchored him and pulled out an agreement at the last moment. Another feather in his hat.
Alvarez will have an opportunity to handle “real boxing” against Crawford in September in an event that will undoubtedly pay him very beautifully.
