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.

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:

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has welcomed a ‘monumental’ super fight between pound-for-pound greats Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. 

Canelo is looking to become undisputed super-middleweight champion this weekend when he puts his WBA, WBC and WBO belts on the line against IBF champion William Scull in Saudi Arabia.

The Mexican has repeatedly been linked to an eventual showdown with two-weight undisputed champion Crawford, with it being reported in January that the pair had agreed to fight in September later this year.

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“Yes, this is what boxing is all about. Remember, he has to fight Scull before Crawford,” Sulaiman told Sky Sports.

“You can never see in the future when you have one event, if he’s successful, the fight with Crawford would be monumental.

“It would be a huge fight between the classic combination, Mexico against the USA. He has provided some of the great fights in the past.

“Crawford is, without a doubt, one of the top fighters in the world right now. Canelo is. It would be a monumental, huge event, without a doubt.”

Crawford last fought in August 2024 when he defeated Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision to extend his perfect professional record to 41-0.

Canelo has meanwhile also emerged as a potential future opponent for Chris Eubank Jr, who is coming off his historic unanimous decision win over Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Turki Alalshikh exclusively told Sky Sports in February that Eubank would have the opportunity to face Canelo at the beginning of 2026 were he to beat Benn, against whom there is notably a rematch clause.

Eubank Jr’s promoter Ben Shalom reaffirmed that a shot at Canelo remains in the pipeline.

“Absolutely. That’s the plan. That was the fight that Chris dreams of,” Boxxer CEO Shalom told Sky Sports.

“He [Eubank] is going to be the biggest star in the UK and that will make for a huge, huge fight against Canelo. Both of them coming towards the latter stages of their career, which will make it interesting.

“What we’d love to do is be able to somehow get Canelo over to the UK. I think he’s always wanted to fight in the UK. But he needs the right dance partner, someone that can really sell an event and that’s Chris Eubank Jr.

“I think Canelo February next year, that’s what we want to see.

“There’s not many dance partners Canelo can choose that can bring something to the table. Chris Eubank Jr brings something to the table and really opens him up to another market. I think it can happen.”