Jake Paul’s dream fight with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has been scrapped at the “one-yard line” of negotiations as the Mexican legend has other plans.
For the last few years, Jake Paul has targeted some of the biggest names in combat sports. Conor McGregor has been a constant target for his verbal jabs, and so too has Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
The Mexican boxing star was initially cold on Jake’s threats, urging him to focus on his then-burgeoning career. Yet, since the YouTuber-turned-boxer has proven himself somewhat, he’s suggested that he’d be open to a fight at some point.
Reported surfaced on February 3, suggesting that the two were finally going to make it happen, squaring off in Las Vegas for Canelo’s annual Cinco De Mayo fight. However, that plan has now been scrapped.
Jake Paul vs Canelo is off
Instead, the super-middleweight champion has signed a four-fight deal for clashes in Saudi Arabia, including a long-awaited bout with Terence Crawford.
As per ESPN’s Mike Coppinger: “In a stunning, 11th-hour development with the Jake Paul fight on the one-yard line, Canelo Alvarez has instead closed a four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season to salvage the Terence Crawford mega fight in September.”
Alalshikh, who is the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority for Saudi Arabia, has been vocal about not wanting Jake fights following his defeat to Tommy Fury.
“Please, we don’t want any YouTuber fights again,” he told DAZN back in March 2024.
He took another shot at Jake with the Canelo deal, saying: “Canelo only fights real fighters.”
Jake Paul slams Canelo Alvarez as fight scrapped
Paul hit out at the boxer in a post on X, saying the cancelation was “not surprising.”
“Breaking news: Canelo Alvarez ducked me Jake Paul and is now an owned slave with no regard for the pride of the Mexican people who support him on US soil. it’s not surprising when his whole career he has done nothing for the sport of boxing outside the ring. I’m the new face of boxing,” he said.
“You cannot have the biggest fight of 2025 without my name involved. When all of your events tank and lose money you will all realize who the king of the sport is. 28 years old. Biggest fight in boxing history. My own boss. Not owned. 5 years in. All of you felines want to see me fail, but god has other plans. It’s the era of good. The era of the elephant. It’s the era of MVP.”
Jake Paul leaks contract in video response
In a post titled “Exposing Canelo,” Paul called out Canello in a lengthy clip to his social media accounts on February 7.
“We had a signed contract to fight. Here you can see Canello’s signature and my signature to the right. Claiming he’s not fighting YouTubers, bulls**t, look at the poster. We were announcing Tuesday, February 11.
“Claiming he fights real fighters but he’s fighting Crawford, a 135 pound fighter and running from a real fighter like David Benavidez, you b***h. You’re a money-hungry squirrel chasing your next nut. The truth is, these sports-washing shady characters are paying you 100’s of millions of dollars to stop our fight from happening because they couldn’t fathom the fact that they can’t create a bigger fight than me and you.”
He added: “You were begging to do this fight on pay per view, and I have loyalty, loyalty to Netflix, doing the biggest numbers. And you called me a YouTuber, but you’ve never had a boxing match as big as mine.
Remember you told my team that you’re daughter came home and asked if you were fighting Jake Paul, she was all excited, you said that was the first time your daughter has asked about a fight.”
“I promise you one thing Canello, any fight you do this year, mine will be bigger,” he ended by saying.
KSI mocks Jake Paul over Canelo fight
Alalshikh wasn’t the only one to poke fun at Jake for the deal falling through. KSI also took some swipes at his long-time rival.
“Now what buddy?” he asked in an Instagram story. “Keep running from me bro.”
MVP says they are talking to other “high-profile opponents”
In a statement emailed to Dexerto, MVP said it was “disappointing” to see how the situation unfolded.
“MVP was deep in negotiations for a blockbuster fight between Jake Paul and Canelo Alvarez on Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas, a massive event for the Mexican, Puerto Rican and American fans, and it’s disappointing to see how the situation unfolded. MVP operates with integrity, transparency, and respect for the sport, its athletes, and the fans. Unfortunately, not everyone in the boxing world shares those values,” they said in the statement.
“This situation is a reminder not to believe everything you read, especially when the current media environment is often controlled by those with hidden agendas, including promoters who have reporters on their payroll.
“We remain in active discussions with multiple high-profile opponents and are committed to delivering the biggest fights, the most exciting events, and to working with partners who share our values and our commitment to boxing and its fighters.”
Jake has promised a fight announcement soon, so he may well have something else up his sleeve. However, his dream fight is going to have to wait again.