LAS VEGAS – Amid talk from boxing power brokers that the uncertainty over the setting for the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford megafight is “holding the sport hostage,” another turn rocked officials connected to the event on Friday.

As construction setbacks have delayed the opening of Mexico’s Arena Guadalajara into early September and scrapped concerts including Katy Perry’s, many in the industry learned that a possible shift from the venue by the UFC 320 "Noche" event scheduled for September 13 could re-shake an already unsteady situation.

One official connected to the event but unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter told BoxingScene Friday that there have been discussions about shifting UFC 320 to a U.S. venue, perhaps even as a non-pay-per-view event.

A UFC spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a voicemail with questions about the matter.

The situation could save Saudi Arabian boxing financier Turki Alalshikh’s bacon, who at this hour has no U.S. licensed promoter, no venue and no broadcaster for the bout between four-division champions who’ve combined to stand as undisputed champions across three divisions.

If UFC 320 is downsized off pay-per-view on September 13 or shifted to another date – September 20 in Las Vegas is open, for example – boxing officials canvassed by BoxingScene Friday feel it opens the door for UFC Chairman and TKO Boxing head Dana White to return as the Alvarez-Crawford promoter and lean on his mightier connections to arrange a broadcaster and venue.

“With every day that goes by, the ‘fight of the century’ becomes less important,” said an official with a business interest in the bout.

In the uncertain climate, fight promoters are frozen out from staging a boxing card on the popular Mexican Independence Day weekend that typically packs a Las Vegas venue.

White was originally in talks with Netflix to stage Alvarez-Crawford at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas – home of the NFL’s Raiders – on Friday, September 12.

An official briefed on the situation told BoxingScene that Alalshikh became convinced Friday was a bad day for such an immense fight after his attempt to do it on a shrunken Times Square card headlined by Ryan Garcia May 2 fizzled out.

The official said White didn’t want to stage both UFC 320 and Alvarez-Crawford on the same night, prompting Alalshikh to announce Saudi Arabia’s Sela would promote the bout, and that more information would be forthcoming on the venue and broadcaster.

Confronted by shrinking U.S. venue options led by Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena and Texas’ Globe Life Field (home of the Texas Rangers), Alalshikh always maintains the ability to bring the fight to Saudi Arabia.

But after fighting in the early-morning hours there May 3 in a subdued showing over William Scull that diminished his reputation, Alvarez has expressed that he does not prefer to return to the Middle East venue that lacks an effective audience, according to an official briefed on the matter.

The official said Alvarez wants to return to Las Vegas, where his 2024 Mexican Independence weekend fight versus Edgar Berlanga outdid the UFC 306 event at The Sphere after Alalshikh said the UFC show he sponsored would “eat them.”

To bring the fight to Allegiant Stadium, a UNLV football game scheduled there for September 13 would need to be shifted. If Alvarez-Crawford is assigned to T-Mobile Arena, ticket prices would likely be increased to compensate for the smaller crowd.

The multiple moving parts leaves the boxing power brokers reduced to watching and waiting and asking questions, including whether Netflix will reconsider streaming boxing’s biggest fight in years.

If Netflix takes it after generating 108 million streams for Mike Tyson-Jake Paul in November, other promoters said they will be free to consider staging their own pay-per-view fight on September 20 or September 27.

“No matter how he tries to paint it, Dana [White would be] coming back with his tail between his legs,” one veteran boxing official said. “After supposedly taking a stand and walking away over the Canelo event moving to the same date as the UFC event, he’s now apparently [considering] coming back on board the Canelo event.”

What matters most is communicating a plan – to the masses and to the industry.

“None of us know what’s going on,” said an official connected to the event.