Canelo dismisses Jake Paul fight: ‘That event can wait until I retire’

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is set to fight William Scull on May 3rd in Saudi Arabia as the first fight in a four fight deal with boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh. Thursday saw the first press conference for the bout, but any headlines that generated were largely overshadowed by the announcement that Alalshikh was teaming up with UFC parent company TKO and Dana White to form a new boxing league.

During an interview with CBS Sports’ Brian Campbell, Alvarez shared his thoughts on White’s arrival in boxing and the potential seismic shift it could cause in the sport.

“I think it’s the best for the fighters out there. I’m fine with that,” Canelo said. “I think they’re gonna do the best for the fighters. I’m pretty sure about that. And I’m glad somebody [will] take care of the fighters because there is a lot of promoters who don’t take seriously the fighters, and I think this is good for boxing. For the fighters, especially.”

Considering Canelo is expected to bank career-high paydays under his deal with Turki Alalshikh, it’s unsurprising that he’d have supportive words about Turki’s new league. All signs are pointing towards Alvarez helping kick the promotion off — his superfight against Terence Crawford in September is expected to headline the launch event.

Yeah, always [the] opportunity to fight in September in Las Vegas,” he said of the rumors. “That’s my day. But I need to take care of the May fight first, and then we’ll see about September. But the possibility to fight in September in Las Vegas and be the the first event, tomorrow.”

And Campbell had to ask about Canelo’s decision to ditch a fight against YouTube influencer Jake Paul in favor of the Alalshikh deal. Why would he turn down a massive fight like Paul to fight a relative unknown like Scull?

“Because it’s better for me,” Canelo said simply. “This point in my career, I just wanna continue making history, you know? That [Jake Paul] fight, I don’t even call it a fight. It’s like an event more than a fight. That event can wait until I retire.”