Turki Al-Shiekh has revealed the fights he wants to see happen in the sport. One of the tops in terms of global appeal is Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford at Super Middleweight.
It’s going to be a tough fight for Turki to put together in 2025, as triple-belt 168-lb unified champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) has shown no interest in taking on Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) not to give the opportunity to fight him. However, this is understandable.
Turki’s wish list
- Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford
- Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury
- Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney 2
- Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois 2
- Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn
Of these fights, a Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney rematch would appeal to many fans worldwide. This may be the greatest fight in boxing that can be made. British promoter Eddie Hearn insists Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury is the biggest one in the sport. It is not. There is no appeal to that old fashioned fight. That fight is no longer interesting, and it was never a big one to begin with due to the lack of solid wins for the two British fighters during their careers.
Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) wants to show the fans that his victory over former two-division world champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) last year was not due to him using Ostarine. That’s the picture Devin and his father, Bill Haney, painted to explain their defeat last year.
The British want Joshua vs. Fury and Eubank Jr. vs. Benn sees, but Americans have no interest in these battles. Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are seen as washed-up old heavyweights who never beat great opposition.
They just are spoiled, manufactured fighters—never the real thing. American fans don’t care about them, and they certainly aren’t interested in a domestic level fight between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn doesn’t. These two are not world class and never were.
Canelo vs. Crawford?
Canelo has nothing to gain from fighting a smaller, older fighter who is fighting two weight classes below him. Crawford will need to bulk up 14 pounds to make his debut at 168. This fight is just a vehicle for Crawford to get retirement money. Terence looked old and sore in his debut at 154 against Israel Madrimov last August.
The performance showed that Terence is not cut out of the junior middleweight division and will ultimately lose if he risks power punchers Bakhram Murtazaliev, Serhii Bohachuk and Vergil Ortiz Jr. everyone beats him and ruins his futile Canelo retirement dream.
The Mexican star might be more open to giving Nebraska native Bud Crawford a title shot than he was brave enough to move up to super middleweight and defeat two or three top fighters. Crawford, for obvious reasons, plans not to. He just wants the Canelo fight to be given to him, and you can’t respect that.
Turki could make the Canelo-Crawford fight happen this year if he offers Alvarez a lot of money that he hasn’t seen in his long career. The Mexican star’s net worth is estimated at a quarter billion. So, for Al-Shiekh to get that fight, he might have to offer Canelo more than $100 million.
You have to assume which Crawford would have wanted wet his mouth on at least half of it if not more. Financially it doesn’t make sense. Crawford is not tied, and the fight will not come close to breaking even.
“I want to see Eubank-Benn. Also, of course, Tyson and Joshua. (Moses) Itauma deserves to be the youngest heavyweight champion,” said Turki Al-Shiekh on Froch on Fighting YouTube channel about fights he wants to see in 2025.
“He has one more year to reach this number (correction: Moses Itauma has until 19 May 2025to break Mike Tyson’s record to become the youngest heavyweight champion),” Turki continued.
“In the American market, I want to see Canelo-Crawford. I want to see Garcia-Haney, the rematch.”
