Comments Thread For: Canelo Alvarez on Turki Alalshikh: 'It's his problem, not mine. I didn't ask for a fight'

[Bronx2245]

‘That was my motivation fight’: Terence Crawford reacts to inability to secure Canelo Alvarez showdown
Terence Crawford admits a fight against Canelo has been his biggest motivation lately.
By Wil Esco@wil_esco Aug 8, 2024, 7:48am EDT

During a recent video interview Terence Crawford speaks about not being able to secure the fight he was looking for against Canelo Alvarez. Crawford gives his reaction and points out the hypocrisy and excuses coming from Canelo — all of which he takes as a sign of respect.

“To be honest, that was my motivation fight,” Crawford said. “It’s crazy and it makes me laugh with all the antics that Canelo is doing and saying in the media and whatnot about the size and he won’t get no credit and all these types of things but Canelo been fighting smaller guys his whole career.

“Canelo been making his own catchweight for years. Canelo fought a smaller Mayweather, Canelo fought a smaller Amir Khan. He fought Jermell Charlo. And I’m pretty sure he didn’t make as much money with all those guys — except Mayweather — even Berlanga right now, that he will with me...he has all these excuses why he don’t want to make a fight with me."

“If it’s all about business then you’re doing good business...if I’m easy work you would take all that money that he’s offering you. But he want $200M for Benavidez and he want $150M to fight me. So that just lets me know right there that I’m a threat to him. I’m a threat to him, I’m a threat to his legacy, because it would be crazy for a guy who started at 135 to come all the way up to 168, your weight, no catchweight or none of that, and dethrone you.

“So he got that in the back of his head. ‘This guy, for one, he’s tough, for two he’s a boxer, he moves, he can punch, he can do it all. I can’t slip up and lose to this guy, then what would my fans think of me? What would my Mexican people think of me?’ So it’s a big risk for him like he said. He don’t get nothing out of it but he does get a lot out of it. None of those guys were pound-for-pound best fighter in the world that he fought when he was coming up in weight.

“So it just goes to show the level of respect. I look at it as respect that he gives me, I don’t look at it as disrespect. I look at it as the level of respect he thinks of me as a fighter.”

https://www.badlefthook.com/2024/8/8...xing-news-2024

SHOTS FIRED!!!

[Bronx2245]

Making boxing a dictatorship would be bad, actually
Latching onto Turki Alalshikh as the cure to boxing’s ills will not end well
By Patrick Stumberg Aug 8, 2024, 8:29pm EDT

Last Saturday’s Riyadh Season show in Los Angeles was, on the whole, a decent card. Andy Cruz delivered, Bakole vs Anderson was what promoters want us to think all heavyweight fights are like, and the main event turned out to be a very competitive and tactical clash of high-level fighters.

That said, the moment that most stood out to me was Todd Grisham and Sergio Mora falling over themselves to extol the virtues of Turki Alalshikh taking over the sport. Admittedly, Todd and Sergio tend to be the lowlights of any broadcast regardless of what they actually say, but this was particularly egregious.

There is and always has been plenty of appeal in the concept of a benevolent dictator; it’s the average person’s knee-jerk answer to the question of “what would be the best form of government.” What’s not to like about a learned autocrat doing what’s right and logical without the need for bureaucracy and red tape?

Thing is, that’s a fantasy. Always has been. Speaking as a recovering UFC fan, you do not want this sport to move at the whim of an untouchable god-king.

To be clear, I’m not saying the act of using personal wealth to reward fighters for risky matchups is bad. Having that much money at all is unethical in my book, but you can bet that if I had billions of dollars I’d spend my first day arranging Bam vs Junto at the BLH Ultradome. For the co-feature, I’d create an offshoot of karate tile breaking where a bunch of club-level heavyweights line up in single file to see how many Deontay Wilder could simultaneously knock out with a single punch.

Everything else is a red flag. For one, we already have cautionary tales on the dangers of boxing autocracy: the sanctioning bodies, or at the very least the WBA and WBC. Mauricio Sulaiman’s racket has written clauses in its rules that amount to “these only apply when we feel like it,” which is why some WBC champions get stripped for catching COVID and others require three years of inactivity and a DWI to lose their belts.

If you broaden the lens to combat sports in general, just look at the UFC. With guaranteed money via their ESPN deal, the promotion has more or less given up on even pretending to make an effort. Serghei Spivac rolled over and died against Ciryl Gane last September and got rewarded with a third consecutive main event this coming Saturday, while flyweight Nate Maness got booted from the promotion for “not being exciting” despite going 5-2 with three post-fight bonuses. The heavyweight division is stuck in the mud because s*ithead-in-chief Dana White insists on giving a title shot to Stipe Miocic, who’s coming up on four years without a win.

Two things could prevent similar shenanigans in the Turki Era. One is meaningful competition or some other means of keeping him in check, but I’m not holding my breath. Never before have I witnessed such shameless ass-kissing from everyone without the money to tell Turki to shove it, from fighters to commentators to aforementioned turds like Sulaiman.

The other is Alalshikh breaking the mold by not being a thin-skinned, self-aggrandizing, insecure weirdo. Also unlikely, as evidenced by his Reddit-ass response to Canelo brushing him off and, you know, the general ludicrous pageantry that goes on between fights on his cards. Nobody who makes you call him His Excellency should be trusted as far as you can throw him.

Don’t expect some hypothetical successor to be any different, either; in my experience, those traits are endemic to anyone above a certain tax bracket.

I won’t deny that he’s given us some very good fights, but the first hit’s always free. This is neither moral nor healthy for the sport in the long term.

https://www.badlefthook.com/2024/8/8...xing-news-2024

[-Kev-]

If Crawford really wants the fight, he’s going to have to contact Canelo’s people himself and negotiate that way, without Turki’s involvement.

[Oldskoolg]

I’m actually liking canelo’s responses to “his excellency.” The only man to openly speak up to the person the promoters are arse licking. Good for Canelo, I’m proud of him

[Oldskoolg]

I respect any man who stands up for himself. Turkie thinks he can buy anything with money. There are very few people like Canelo who are not afraid to tell Turkie to take his money a F off. I don’t agree with things Canelo does referring yo opponents for his fights. But I respect to the death for his right to stand up for himself against a Saudi bully. Respect!

This! Very glad to see Canelo stand up to the Saudi strongman who has Hearn on a leash and following him around like a love struck puppy

[Verus]

He's not a bully for paying top dollar for fights that fans want to see. He's an egotistical prick for getting his feelings hurt because Ginger wanted to wait till after his fight with Berlanga to negotiate. It's the smart/professional thing to do.

Ginger hasn't refused to fight Bud. Had Turki just waited till after the Berlanga fight to negotiate with Ginger they might have come to an agreement. Had Turki offered Ginger, lets say $75-100 million after the Berlanga fight, well then you might have a point.

Would Bud do better against Ginger then he did against Madrimov??? Maybe, maybe not. We might never know.

Why should the Saudis fund Mexican fighter cards on the dates that Ginger fights on free TV??? To punish Ginger??? That would be silly...

It is plain arrogant and disrespectful to an opponent to start publically negotiating for the next fight with another fighter. In this case, even if Alvarez is heavily favored to beat Berlanga, it is bad form to disrespect Berlanga and his fans and in a sense all Puerto Ricans. I guess Mr. Turkey doesn't understand that. He is giving Saudi Arabia a bad look.

[Verus]

If Crawford really wants the fight, he’s going to have to contact Canelo’s people himself and negotiate that way, without Turki’s involvement.

That makes good sense. Turki is not helpful he is making things worse for Crawford, One thing that people are overlooking is that Turki wants to negotiate only with Canelo directly and that is a direct slap in the face to Al Haymon, Canelo's advisor for this fight and to Eddy Reynoso, Canelo's manager. Mr. Turki that self-proclaimed "face of boxing" seems to be drunk with all the kowtowing and ring kissing that people are showing him.

[Hands of Stone]

I like Turki in terms of what he's done for boxing in the short while but you can also see his arrogance growing. He's giving slave master vibes and that ish only works in Saudi Arabia. It can get nauseating when u hear his excellency and everyone from Fast Eddie to fisheyes all becoming his subjects and bowing to him at every turn all 'cos of his money. Kind of refreshing to see the two cash cows in boxing, in Canelo and Tank, choosing to not bow down to him regardless of the motives behind it.

[El_Mero]

Fcuk Ginger and Wahid. If they don't want to be a part of this movement, that's fine. There's plenty of fights Alalshik can make happen. Freckles is good fighting undeserving cherry picks and Wahid can continue to fight no hopers and those he can put stipulations on.

[LarryMerchant'sBottle]

Fcuk Ginger and Wahid. If they don't want to be a part of this movement, that's fine. There's plenty of fights Alalshik can make happen. Freckles is good fighting undeserving cherry picks and Wahid can continue to fight no hopers and those he can put stipulations on.

You a Jehova Witness bro? Just messing with you sir and my apologies if I may have offended anyone.

Won't argue with the rest of your post as you might be right and are entitled to your opinion. I just find it refreshing that at least 2 key figures of the boxing industry are showing to have some sort of dignity when dealing with what appears to be a megalomaniac.