Just a week after the thrilling fight between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn, the victory of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez over William Scull was met with a swathe of disappointed fans after a dismal bout left many furious over the lack of action.
However, while Canelo’s win may have been the most boring of his career, it has set the stage for a mega-fight later this year when the Mexican superstar takes on fellow pound-for-pound contender, Terence Crawford.
Canelo spent the majority of his Saturday night fight chasing Scull around the ring, whose evading tactics frustrated both the Mexican and the paying public. With the bout setting a CompuBox record low of 445 total punches, and both fighters receiving a warning for inactivity, Canelo expressed his annoyance in his post-fight interview, saying “I don’t like to fight those kinds of guys”. “They came to just survive to the final round. That’s why I don’t like to fight them. It won’t be that kind of fight (against Crawford),” Alvarez continued.
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In a bout in which the only people at risk of being put to sleep were the viewers, the post-fight events generated more excitement than the 12-rounds that preceded it. After unifying his IBF belt with his WBA, WBC and WBO Super Middleweight titles via unanimous decision, the Mexican went face-to-face with Nebraska’s Crawford, as Turki Alalshikh announced that the two would fight at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on the 12th of September.
| Canelo & Terence Crawford’s pro records (as of 04/05/25) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Canelo Alvarez | Terence Crawford | |
| Fights | 67 | 41 |
| Wins | 63 (39 KOs) | 41 (31 KOs) |
| Losses | 2 | 0 |
| Draws | 2 | 0 |
The Saudi Arabian power broker will promote his debut show in Sin City at the largest venue Sin City has to offer. Home to the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, Allegiant Stadium has previously hosted both the Superbowl and WWE WrestleMania, but has never played host to a genuine combat sports event.
How Another Sport Forced Canelo vs Crawford to a Friday Night
The mega-fight will take place on the 12th of September
All that will change when Canelo and Crawford step into the ring in September. However, the bout won’t take place in boxing’s traditional Saturday night timeslot – or on a Saturday – at all. The reasons why it will happen on a Friday night have now emerged.
Per both the Las Vegas Review Journal and Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger, the unusual choice to stage the fight on a Friday doesn’t have anything to do with the venue not being available on the Saturday night.
Coppinger first explained the rationale for the scheduling in a social media post, remarking:
“That’s a Friday to avoid Saturday during college football season.”
The renowned journalist later clarified that the date had been chosen to avoid a conflict with televised college football games. These routinely draw millions of viewers and would almost certainly take away from viewership of the fight, which is expected – although not confirmed – to be a pay-per-view event in some form.
News of the Friday date will also be welcomed by UFC CEO Dana White. The veteran matchmaker is a co-promoter of Canelo vs Crawford, but must also oversee the UFC 320 pay-per-view event taking place in Guadalajara, Mexico on the Saturday night. Dana won’t have long to get between the two venues, but will at least be able to take both events live should he choose to do so.
