Jake Paul vs. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez fight canceled – what happened?
The highly anticipated fight between Mexican boxing legend Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and YouTube star-turned-boxer Jake Paul, initially set for May 2025, has officially been called off.
The reason behind the cancellation
Canelo recently signed a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season to compete exclusively in Saudi Arabia, making a fight with Paul impossible under the terms of his contract.
Turki Al-Sheikh, the Saudi Arabian sports authority chairman, commented on the deal in a cryptic post on X (formerly Twitter), stating: “The lion does not lose sleep over the opinion of a sheep.”
"Don’t mess with the lion… 4 fights for Canelo with Riyadh Season … The Deal is done. A Lion doesn’t lose sleep over opinion of a sheep. Fear the lion not the jungle."
Jake Paul responds
Jake Paul quickly reacted on social media, accusing Canelo of betraying him and ignoring the pride of the Mexican people who support him in the U.S.
"It’s not surprising when his whole career he has done nothing for the sport of boxing outside the ring. I’m the new face of boxing. You cannot have the biggest fight of 2025 without my name involved. When all of your events tank and lose money you will all realize who the king of the sport is. 28 years old. Biggest fight in boxing history. My own boss. Not owned. 5 years in. All of you felines want to see me fail, but god has other plans. It’s the era of good. The era of the elephant. It’s the era of MVP.."
Who will Canelo fight next?
Despite the canceled fight with Paul, Canelo is still expected to fight in May, but in Riyadh. His potential opponents include Jermall Charlo and Bruno Surace.
Ileana Sanchez
Dailysports's expert
