Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez’s defense against Terence Crawford has moved to September 13th in one of these three cities in the U.S:
– Las Vegas
– Los Angeles
– New York City
Turkish Alalshikh decided to move the Alvarez-Crawford from the original date of September 12th for some reason. Mike Coppinger states that Turki will choose whichever site presents the “best deal.” New York doesn’t make a lot of sense for a Canelo-Crawford fight because it’s far away from their committed fan bases.
Fan Factor?
Of course, fans aren’t important if it’s just about getting the best site deal. We just saw the Times Square event in New York City, and it was just a small VIP crowd in hundreds. Regular fans weren’t included.
Interestingly, the kickoff news conference for Canelo vs. Crawford will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in June rather than in the U.S. It’s a bizarre move, given that the fight will be staged in the U.S. on September 13th. This move says that U.S. fans aren’t important except for buying tickets once they go on Sale.
It would be disappointing for American fans if all of the press conferences for the event are staged in Saudi Arabia rather than in the U.S. From the Saudis’ perspective, you can see why they would want to stage the press conferences in their country. It’s a great way to grow the sport over there and get more fans interested in boxing.
For a big fight like Canelo-Crawford, the Saudis could increase their fan base by staging the press conferences there. If they’re going to do that, they might as well stage the fight in their country.
Vegas Likely?
As far as the location of the fight. It’s probable that it’ll wind up in Las Vegas. One of the venues will be willing to pay a huge site fee to get the clash over there and it’ll do well, Obviously, not as well as Canelo vs. David Benavidez if that fight were to happen.
Crawford isn’t that popular with casual boxing fans. He’s known to the hardcore fans, and he’s not widely popular even with them. He’s got the fans who like the Mayweather style of fighting and who enjoy watching him. Fans who like to see brawling, focus on more entertaining fighters like Jaron Ennis, David Benavidez, Gervonta Davis, and Canelo.