Turki Alalshikh Drops Major Hint About Canelo-Crawford Showdown: "The Fans Deserve This"

Terence Crawford has got a new challenge on his hands. The WBO has told him to face Sebastian Fundora, who holds both the WBO and WBC Super-Welterweight titles. This order could shake things up for Crawford's hopes of fighting Canelo Alvarez.

Crawford just stepped into the super-welterweight division earlier this month. He beat Israil Madrimov to grab the WBA belt. Now, he's got 30 days to work out a deal with Fundora. If they can't agree, they'll have to go through a purse bid.

Fundora won his titles in March. He had a tough, bloody fight against Tim Tszyu. It's clear the division's heating up with these two champions now in the mix.

But Crawford's got his eyes on a bigger prize. He wants to fight Canelo Alvarez more than anyone else. Fundora's second on his list. Canelo, though, isn't making any promises. He's said he'll fight Crawford if the money's right.

"I don't think so. I'm not saying that fight can't happen. That order doesn't matter,"

Canelo told Boxing Scene when asked about the WBO's order. This shows he might be warming up to the idea of fighting Crawford.

But Canelo's got his own fight coming up. He'll defend his unified titles against Edgar Berlanga on September 14. He won't talk about fighting Crawford or anyone else until after that.

Sampson Lewkowicz, Fundora's promoter, thinks Crawford's team will wait to see what happens with Canelo's fight before they start talking about a Fundora bout.

Crawford's at a crossroads. He could fight Fundora for the WBO and WBC belts, then try for Canelo in mid-2025. Or, if he can't get the Canelo fight, he might hang up his gloves for good.

Turki Alalshikh from Riyadh Season has accused Canelo of only wanting "show fights" because he's scared of certain challenges. But with Crawford now holding a belt in Canelo's neighborhood, we might see these two top fighters face off sooner rather than later.