Saudi boxing tycoon Turki Al-Alshikh has gunned for one of the governing bodies over a recent decision made regarding Canelo Alvarez.
The IBF have called upon their mandatory, enforcing Canelo to take on their challenger or vacate the belt, potentially scuppering plans for the Mexican to face some of the biggest names in the sport.
Alvarez impressed against Jaime Munguia earlier this month, silencing whispers that his days at the peak of the super-middleweight division could be coming to a close with a comfortable unanimous decision victory against his previously undefeated countryman.
Since then, rumours of a potential showdown with David Benavidez have re-emerged, although Canelo’s suggestions of requiring $150 million dollars to accept the fight has understandably proven to be a monumental and possibly purposeful stumbling block.
Alternatively, links to a clash with arguable pound-for-pound number one, Terence Crawford have also risen from the ashes, in a move that would mean the American would be moving up three weight-classes from his most recent fight at presented.
It would ultimately put the two biggest names outside of the heavyweight division up against one another and give Crawford the chance to become the first ever three-division four-belt undisputed champion.
That was until the IBF ordered Canelo to defend his 168lb title against William Scull, a defensive-minded Cuban who is unknown to the masses.
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Al-Alshikh fumed at the news and maintained that he will still attempt to stage Canelo-Crawford, hopefully with all four belts on the line.
“I hope that nobody stands in our way to doing something like this [Canelo-Crawford], from the promoters or the belt [organizations]. In the end, if we want it, we will do it.
“I am very angry and I don’t understand why the IBF have put their mandatory to Canelo very soon, they have done it like this for the third time, they did it with Hrgovic and we don’t understand [why], especially from the IBF.
“I hope that they understand this message because in the end, we don’t want the fighters to step down from their belts, if this is necessary. Now it is our target to do Canelo-Crawford, but now I don’t want to think, I am focussing on Saturday and the biggest fight of the century.“
As Al-Alshikh alluded to, Canelo could instead opt to vacate his belt and not run the risk of taking an extra fight this year, with a third fight with Crawford before the end of the year marking his most active year since 2021.
This would mean that Scull would instead take on Vladimir Shishkin for the belt, but whether Crawford would remain interested in the idea without the allure of the undisputed super-middleweight title remains to be seen.
A potential fight with Scull has certainly disrupted the plans and calendar for Canelo, who may attempt to squeeze the fight in during this summer, but he needs to make up his mind quickly, with just four weeks to decide his next move.
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