‘Things happen for a reason’ – Canelo Alvarez leaves door open to Jake Paul fight but reveals he is HAPPY deal collapsed
CANELO ALVAREZ was HAPPY his mega-money deal with Jake Paul collapsed – but he has left the door open to a fight in the future.
The Mexican great and YouTuber-turned-boxer were close to announcing a shock May 3 blockbuster in Las Vegas.
But Canelo dramatically walked away at the 11th hour to sign a bumper four-bout deal with Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh.
That kicks off with an undisputed super-middleweight title clash against William Scull in Riyadh on Sunday morning in the UK.
And boxing purists can breathe a sigh of relief as it also KO’d Paul’s chances of fighting the sport’s biggest star – for now.
Canelo, 34, told SunSport: “I’m very happy. Things happen for a reason and I’m happy with this and I’m gonna enjoy it as much as I can.”
The four-weight champion even refused to refer to the bout with 11-1 Paul as a real or genuine fight.
He instead said: “It’s an event for me, yeah, calling it a fight is very difficult for me, man.
“It’s for me more like event more than a fight, you know, and this is not the moment.”
Paul’s only defeat in the ring came against Tommy Fury, 25, via split-decision in February 2023.
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He has won five since and most recently brought Mike Tyson out of retirement at 58 for a controversial clash on Netflix.
But despite the scrutiny surrounding the fight for the ages – over 100 MILLION watched on the streaming service.
So Netflix gave Paul’s camp the green light to pursue talks with Canelo until the deal crumbled.
But the unlikely fight even became the talks of the playground at Canelo’s daughter Maria’s school.
Canelo revealed: “Maybe her friends told her about the fight.
“Because the fathers of her friends told them and everything talking about it – because they don’t know anything about boxing.
“That kind of people don’t know anything about boxing and they think Jake Paul is really good fighter. Which he is a fighter, but it’s levels in boxing.
“And that’s why my daughter told me, ‘You’re gonna fight with Jake Paul?’ And I said, ‘He’s not on my level my love, don’t worry!’
I’m very happy. Things happen for a reason and I’m happy with this and I’m gonna enjoy it as much as I can
Canelo on collapse of Jake Paul fight
“I think it’s for that fact that people don’t how boxing works.”
Paul also considered an exhibition against WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis – despite their SIX STONE weight difference.
But Davis, 30, is now set to rematch Lamont Roach, 29, in the summer following their draw in March.
So Paul switched his attention to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, 39, and announced he will return to the ring on June 28 in California.
Canelo meanwhile faces Scull in a bid to win back the IBF 168lb title he vacated last year – and once more become undisputed king.
And a super-fight against unbeaten American Terence Crawford, 37, is due to follow in the summer in what could be his biggest bout of all.
Canelo said: “I have a lot of big fights. A lot of big fights, a lot of good fights in my career.
“I’m focused on the in this fight, and we’ll see, we’ll see if if that fight happens. We’ll see, maybe it’s gonna be the biggest? We don’t know.”