Jake Paul took aim at Canelo Alvarez, accusing the Mexican champion of dodging a fight with him in favor of signing a lucrative deal with Riyadh Season. In a video posted on social media, Paul displayed what he claimed was a signed contract between him and Alvarez for a fight that was set to be officially announced next week.
Sources told ESPN’s Mike Coppinger on Thursday that Alvarez and Paul had been finalizing a deal to fight on May 3 in Las Vegas. However, in a surprising turn of events, Canelo Alvarez changed course just hours later, opting instead to sign a four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season, effectively canceling the fight with Paul.
“The truth is, you could be bought,” Paul said in his video, addressing Alvarez. “You’re a money-hungry squirrel chasing your next nut. The truth is, these sports-washing, shady characters are paying you hundreds of millions of dollars to stop our fight from happening because they couldn’t fathom the fact that they can’t create a bigger fight than me and you.”
Canelo prioritizes lucrative deal with Saudi Arabia
According to sources, Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, informed Alvarez that the Riyadh Season deal—featuring a megafight on September 13 against former undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford in Las Vegas—would be off the table if he proceeded with the planned fight against Paul. After Alvarez’s deal with Riyadh Season was announced, Alalshikh told ESPN, “Canelo only fights real fighters.”
“Claiming he’s not fighting YouTubers—(expletive),” Paul fired back in his video. “Claiming he’s fighting real fighters, but he’s fighting Crawford, a 135-pound fighter, and running from a real fighter like David Benavidez.”
Paul challenges Canelo’s position as boxing’s top star
Paul delivered one final shot in his video, challenging the notion that Alvarez is boxing’s biggest star. “You call me a YouTuber, but you’ve never had a boxing match as big as mine,” Paul said. “I promise you one thing, Canelo—any fight you do this year, mine will be bigger.”