Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford is the super fight with a twist

It looks like the city, the venue, the weight and more importantly the money has been agreed for a fight between Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez.

Obviously, it could collapse in acrimony in the next few hours, but the relentless behind-the-scenes work by Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi Arabian fight fixer, to somehow bring together two of the world’s finest boxers, from different weight classes, in an extraordinary fight that defies traditional boundaries is close to being official. It’s the latest in the modern dream factory of fights.

Alalshikh has been briefing people for about six weeks in private meetings that the fight, which is one of his personal favourites, is getting closer and closer.

His other chosen fight – one he has been talking about for close to a year – is the British showdown at middleweight between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr, and that, according to just about everyone in the sport, has been made for April.

The Canelo and Crawford bout really feels like one of the fantasy fights that boxing fans talked about for decades; it is a fight too good to be true, yet it is going to happen.

Canelo is the fighting idol of Mexico, the sport’s highest-paid boxer, and at just 34 years of age, he has held world titles at four weights across a massive range of 21lb. However, Crawford would have to jump two weights to make the fight a reality at super-middleweight, which would mean that he would in theory be 33lb heavier than he was when he won his first world title.

Crawford has also held world titles at four weights, winning the light-middleweight version at 154lb in August last year; Canelo won a world title at the same weight. In 2011, when Canelo was the new champion at light-middleweight, Crawford weighed nearly 20 pounds less and was boxing six-round fights in total obscurity.

It looks like the two men and their teams, under the guidance of Alalshikh, have agreed to make the fight happen at 168lb, which is the super-middleweight poundage; Canelo holds the WBC and WBO super-middleweight belts. There are and there have always been too many clauses attached to fights when men jump across weight divisions; this feels like there are no gimmicks. Crawford has the offer, he must accept and that would be brave.

There is, apparently, no rehydration clause and it is known that Canelo puts on a lot of weight after making the championship poundage. It is likely that Canelo, who is the real cash cow in the deal, simply refused to budge on any suggestion of hydration. It looks like Crawford could have nine months to add the extra weight, but he will certainly have a strength disadvantage on the night. Crawford is supposed to be half an inch taller, but the stats on reach, neck, chest and height are notoriously tricky in boxing.

A Saturday in September looks likely and the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas appears to be agreed. There had been bold talk of an outdoor fight, but five of Canelo’s last six fights have taken place at the venue and it seems a safe assumption that the Crawford fight will be there. The briefings, as is normal in boxing, never have real figures, but both are said to be happy with the cash on offer. It is, after all, why the fight is happening.

If they finally meet, it will be one of the most provocative matches to be made under the current Saudi Arabian boxing regime; the real movement started with the UFC’s heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, against Tyson Fury, boxing’s heavyweight champion, in October 2023.

It was a wonderful carnival and a spectacular event, and since then a lot of fights that simply couldn’t get made, have been made. It seems that Alalshikh is desperate to share his vision, insisting that the best fight the best; he is not concerned with boxers protecting their unbeaten records – he just wants to make the best and most creative fights, and he can arrange the funding. This fight really feels like it’s personal, a fight Alalshikh designed and made from scratch. It’s not a bad way to do business.