Turkish Alalshikh personally announced the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight tonight, September 12th, at the Las Vegas Stadium. He called it the “Fight of the Century.” Crawford entered the ring and stood side-by-side with Alvarez for the announcement after Canelo’s win over IBF super middleweight champion William Scull at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Fans on social media aren’t as enthusiastic about this fight, viewing it as a manufactured bout rather than one that people are demanding.

Crawford, 37, had never fought at 168, and he appeared to have hit his ceiling, moving up to 154 in his last fight. The general belief is that Terence just wants this fight for a payday to provide a cushion for his landing into retirement. He’s only going up to super middleweight for a one-off against Canelo, either returning to 154 or retiring.

Canelo and Crawford reportedly get $100 million for their September 12th fight. It’s insane money for a fight that doesn’t resonate with fans. It’s not the one that people have been asking for. Fans wanted to see Canelo fight David Benavidez, ‘The Mexican Monster,’ because he’d earned it more than Crawford or any of the fighters Alvarez has fought over the last three years.

“Fight of the Century”?

“Now, we want to do the fight of the century. The fight in September between the two great fighters in our generation, Canelo Alvarez and Crawford,” said Turki Alalshikh, inside the ring after Alvarez’s win over IBF super middleweight champion William Scull. “It’ll be in the stadium in Las Vegas on the 12th of September.

The 34-year-old Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) looked old and shot in his 12-round unanimous decision over Scull (23-1, 9 KOs). The power and snap that used to be there on Alvarez’s punches were gone tonight. He fought at a slow pace and threw very few punches. His output was abysmal. Crawford must like his chances after watching Canelo’s performance tonight.