Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, cleared up the uncertainty. He said:
"My brother Dana will promote this fight. It is the fight of Riyadh Season, and we have a deal with TKO to promote it and it will the biggest fight in boxing"
This statement comes after speculation in May that Sela, a Saudi promotional outfit, might take over the promotion with Netflix as a potential broadcaster.
The fight date moved from September 12 to September 13 due to a college football game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Organizers are now looking at New York or Los Angeles as possible venues. The event conflicts with UFC 320, scheduled for the same weekend.
While pricing details aren't confirmed yet, the pay-per-view cost might jump from the usual $70 to somewhere between $90 and $100. The fight will likely use traditional pay-per-view methods, with DAZN as a potential partner.
At the UFC 316 post-fight press conference, Dana White kept details close to his chest:
"I'm promoting the fight. I'll let you guys know when it's time to let you guys know. There's a lot of fckedup things about boxing, but they don't say s***. ... If we sign a deal I've got to f**king get out my phone quick ... These guys don't talk. I'm in my own little world ... I know what we're doing, I don't really pay attention to that stuff... We're good. We're very good."
The fight pits super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez (63-2-2) against the undefeated Terence Crawford (41-0). Crawford's moving up two weight divisions for this bout. If he wins, he'll become the first male boxer in the four-belt era to be undisputed champion in three separate weight classes.
This match is part of Saudi Arabia's push into global combat sports, led by Turki Alalshikh through the Riyadh Season initiative. The organizers bill it as potentially the fight of a generation, drawing massive interest from boxing fans worldwide.