Turki Alalshikh's UFC 306: Direct Challenge to Canelo Alvarez September 14

Turki Alalshikh is sponsoring the UFC 306 event on September 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas, which will take place on the same night as the Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga fight at the T-Mobile Arena.

Canelo will not be happy to hear Turki is planning to sponsor the UFC 306 event, which would interfere with his scheduled event on the same night.

Turki's Bold Prediction: “We'll Eat Him Up”

Turki told ESPN that his UFC 306-sponsored event on Sept. 14 will “eat up” Canelo's fight card in one night against Berlanga.

It is not clear why Turki is taking the position of feuding with Canelo on September 14th, especially if he is the person he wants for next year's event. If Canelo had done anything to Turki, I could understand his desire to skip his September 14th event.

Did Canelo do anything to fire Turki? He is helping Turki's best friend, promoter Eddie Hearn, by fighting Matchroom fighter, Edgar Berlanga.

Turki says he still wants a fight between Canelo and Terence Crawford and gives Alvarez “fair value.” If you're Canelo, you're probably thinking, '$100 million is a fair price for a fight I'm not going to get anything out of.' Canelo will be helping Turki's best friend, Crawford, but he doesn't owe him anything.

Crawford can help Canelo by at least protecting him from the onslaught he will receive by showing himself at 168 against David Benavidez.

Alalshikh says that if Canelo asks for more money, he will get Crawford any fight he wants. However, Crawford only wants Canelo. That's all. He doesn't want to fight Jaron 'Boots' Ennis, and neither does anyone popular in any of the other weight classes Crawford is interested in facing before hanging up his gloves. He only wants that Canelo fight, which he probably won't get.

Crawford can still get any fight he wants, but his focus is on Canelo, who arguably only Turki has a chance to get. The truth is that Turki is getting off on the wrong foot with Canelo if he wants to agree to fight Crawford. You could argue that Crawford rotten rotten and he doesn't want to stop getting Canelo's match, even though he doesn't deserve it.

Crawford no more deserves a Canelo fight than Edgar Berlanga. At least with him, he's fighting at 168 and it's Canelo's WBA requirement. Crawford hasn't fought at 154 yet, and could lose that match next Saturday night against Israel Madrimov on August 3rd.

Whatever sweet deal Turki offers Canelo to fight Crawford, it won't be good if you factor in the money he's losing due to his Berlanga event being disqualified from the UFC 306 card.

Crawford Only Wants Canelo

There is no one else Crawford wants to fight, other than Canelo, and it's understandable why. It's a combination of money and Crawford's legacy. He gets a big payday and a chance to cement his legacy. Canelo gets nothing but money, which he already has. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Canelo's wealth is estimated at $250 million.

I don't know what Honorable Turki plans to do for Canelo to fight Crawford, but I'd be willing to bet it's nowhere near that.

“I'll give Canelo what I think is a fair price. If he agrees, he will face me directly to finish the deal,” said Turki Alalshikh speaking to Mike Coppinger on X about his desire to fight Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.

“I don't want anyone in there. “We're going to eat him,” said Turki about his UFC 306 event that will defeat Canelo on September 14.

“I assured Crawford a big fight. I want Canelo from Crawford, and Crawford wants Canelo,” continued Turki. “But if Canelo is mad [asking for too much money]I will still guarantee Crawford any fight he wants.”

It would be interesting to know what kind of money Turki feels would be a “fair value” for Canelo because he has already done well in previous fights. Since Canelo won't get anything out of this fight and won't get credit for beating Crawford, it's going to have to be a big payday to make it a success.

Whatever price Canelo has for a match with David Benavidez, it would make sense for him to demand the same amount of dough for a fight with Crawford, and there is no benefit to that matchup. Canelo was on record for demanding $200 million for the Benavidez fight. Well, that's a good price to fight Crawford.

Canelo would be better off fighting Benavidez because he would get the credit for winning, and the fans wouldn't abandon him if he lost or fought to win.

Crawford's options if Canelo sells himself

Jaron 'Boot' Ennis
David Benavidez
David Morrell

If Crawford feels brave enough to fight Canelo, he shouldn't have any doubts about facing David Benavidez or David Morrell. They aren't as old as Canelo or as famous, but Crawford could get a lot of attention by fighting one of them. If he loses them, he will have a built-in excuse. He can blame their size, youth and power.

Fans would love to see Crawford jump in the ring with Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol, but he won't. In order to earn big money and keep the fans interested, Crawford has to make huge sacrifices by fighting someone the fans feel he has no chance of beating.

A fight with Beterbiev or Bivol would put Crawford in a position where he would be the underdog, but the publicity he would get would be huge.

Crawford may choose if he doesn't get the Canelo fight against the WBC junior middleweight champion, Sebastian Fundora. Turki can easily set that game up as an alternative. However, the public would not be very happy to see that fight.

Fundora was knocked out last year by Brian Mendoza, and some believe the only reason he beat Tim Tszyu last March was the bad cut he received in the tournament.

Crawford said he wanted to fight Fundora when he chose to move up to 154, but decided to face Errol Spence instead. Crawford then went with his second choice, Israil Madrimov.