Eddie Hearn favors Terence Crawford to shock Canelo Alvarez: 'He has no doubt in his mind'

Yahoo

a day ago

With the highly-anticipated Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford undisputed super middleweight title fight officially set to stream on Netflix from an undetermined Las Vegas venue on Sept. 13, it marks UFC CEO Dana White and TKO's first foray into the competitive boxing business alongside Saudi Arabian fight financier Turki Alalshikh — a world very different from MMA. Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing has promoted six of Alvarez's recent contests and multiple Crawford fights, but Alalshikh entrusted White with the role of lead promoter for fight Alalshikh is funding for more than $100 million.
"The reality is that the promoter of this fight is Turki Alalshikh. It doesn't matter [who the lead promoter is]," Hearn said of White's role to Uncrowned and DAZN's "Ariel x Ade" show. "Whenever there's a Riyadh Season event or a Ring Magazine event, all of the decisions are made from His Excellency. I've been involved. You actually don't really get much of an opportunity to make any decisions because he makes them all for you. Everything down to the design of the promo, to the on-sale ticket details, to the venue deal — they're financially bankrolling the event, so they're going to be making all the decisions.
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"Should I be doing it? Nah, not really. I think Dana has got a much bigger profile than me in America, so I get the move. I wouldn't be able to do it anyway because I'm exclusive to DAZN, and obviously the fight is on Netflix. I think it's a pretty cool move, really. I think it's good for boxing."
The Alvarez vs. Crawford promotional machine is already in full flow, with a multi-city press conference tour scheduled, cross-promotion ongoing from UFC and WWE fighters, and even a podcast planned with NBA and NFL stars Shaquille O'Neal and Tom Brady.
Hearn, however, believes White's efforts fronting Alvarez vs. Crawford could result in the UFC boss taking his eye off the ball with his primary business. Hearn himself knows how expansion can take away from a company's core product. Much of the criticism when Hearn's Matchroom began promoting in the U.S. was how it came at the detriment of the quality of their U.K. shows.
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"Dana is making a move into boxing for a reason, and it's a dangerous move for his business and for the UFC business because really it could be taking a lot of the focus off [UFC]," Hearn said. "If you're really promoting this fight, it's a 24/7 job for three months — that's how I would be promoting this fight. Different cities every day. So it's difficult to be across the UFC business as well. But [White's] here for a reason: Boxing is red hot. I've said to you before, MMA's like a poor relative of boxing at the moment.
"This is a big fight. One of the biggest, certainly in America, for some time."
Although Crawford opened as a slight underdog with the BetMGM bookmakers, Hearn favors the naturally smaller man to defeat boxing's biggest star once September rolls around, citing Alvarez's recent performances and aging body as the factors for his pick.
"When I was watching the [Alvarez vs.] William Scull fight live in the arena, I was thinking to myself, 'I actually wouldn't be that surprised if 'Canelo' didn't fight again.' I didn't think he looked motivated. And [Alvarez] didn't [like those comments]. We didn't have an argument [about it], I was just being honest. [I said to him], 'You didn't look motivated to me.' Now that's probably because it was William Scull, and [Scull] was running around the ring, doing anything he could not to engage in a fight. That night made me really think about who is going to win this fight, because the thing is with Crawford, when you spend time around him, he is so confident. He has no doubt in his mind that he is going to win this fight.
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"And anyone that has movement is going to cause 'Canelo' problems at this stage in his career. When [Alvarez vs. Crawford] was first made, I thought that 'Canelo' Alvarez would be a huge favorite because of the size. But [now], I really see it as a 50/50 fight. Honestly, [I'm] probably favoring Crawford."
Anthony Joshua
Anthony Joshua's ring return is being planned for the final quarter of 2025 — and it could be the antepenultimate time we see Joshua in a boxing ring.
The heavyweight star's longtime promoter said he believes Joshua could step through the ropes twice more in 2026 after his return later this year before calling it quits on his Hall of Fame-worthy career.
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While Tyson Fury is an obvious rival for Joshua's 2026 fights, Fury has yet to come out of retirement, so that matchup could just end up being another one that historians scratch their heads at 20 years from now, wondering why it never materialized.
"I had a lengthy conversation with [Joshua's] team today," Hearn said. "He's now back in the groove of starting to think about locking in a date for 2025. So October, November, December — that will be AJ's next fight. We look forward to a big end to the year, and we don't even know if the Fury fight is going to materialize. What we do know is that's the biggest fight in boxing. Forget 'Canelo'-Crawford, AJ-Fury is the biggest fight in boxing, unquestionably. [Joshua is] in a good place. [He's] had the surgery and [is] motivated to return to camp."
"Dillian Whyte was probably the frontrunner [to face Joshua next], to be honest with you, [but] now he looks like he's going to fight Moses [Itauma]. That was a curveball. Jared Anderson has been mentioned [and] obviously Deontay Wilder is back soon. AJ would've been out of the ring just over a year by the time he [returns]. He will be coming off surgery. I don't think Fury is going to be ready to fight around that time anyway, but I expect it to be someone that will gear [Joshua] up for a really big fight in 2026."
Anthony Joshua hasn't fought since suffering a knockout loss at the hands of IBF world heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois. ()
(Richard Pelham via Getty Images)
Anderson, an ambassador for Alalshikh's Riyadh Season boxing efforts, was knocked out by Martin Bakole this past August before rebounding with a decision over Marios Kollias in February, while Wilder looks to end a two-fight losing streak against Tyrrell Herndon on June 27.
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Joshua, 35, would likely open as the betting favorite in both fights, but either would largely serve as tests to ascertain what the former champ has left in the tank after his devastating defeat to Daniel Dubois this past September at Wembley Stadium.
"Probably 2026 will be [Joshua's] last year in the sport," Hearn said. "I mean, you never know. It's probably three fights away. I think, for me, if I'm advising AJ, we're back this year [then] we have two Tyson Fury fights. What else is there to do? Maybe fight a Daniel Dubois. But for me, once AJ fights Tyson Fury, he's kind of done it all. I'd love him to have another crack at Dubois, and I'd love him to have another crack at Usyk, but you just go on and on and on. Now, if we get to next year and he's still firing on all cylinders, then 2026 won't be his year [to retire]. But for me, something feels right about coming back this year, beating Tyson Fury twice, and then sailing off into the sunset."
Dave Allen
Another man angling to fight Wilder is fan-favorite British heavyweight Dave Allen, who scored a career-best win this past May when he stopped Johnny Fisher in five rounds at the Copper Box Arena in London.
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"We're going to probably headline him in September [or] October in Sheffield. I think he'll sell the whole [arena] out," Hearn said of Allen's next fight.
"There's a massive love for this guy. He's always been very good, but [he lacked] discipline, motivation and focus. Now he's kind of got it all going and he's been through those guys. Like Luis Ortiz, Dillian Whyte, [and] David Price — he's fought a lot of these top guys, and now he's kind of learned how to deal with heavyweights. He's actually a threat, Dave Allen. He's got a tremendous chin and he punches very hard, and if you do that in the division, you're always going to be a threat, so who knows? We could see 'The White Rhino' against Deontay Wilder, but [Wilder is] definitely in the hat for AJ as well."
While Allen's name likely doesn't sit at the top of Wilder's wishlist, Wilder is currently in a rebuilding phase, which begins later this month against the little-known Herndon. An Allen fight could be the perfect prelude for a Joshua vs. Wilder bout in 2026, especially considering the fact that Allen is another British fighter promoted by Hearn.
Jai Opetaia vs. Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez
Among the plethora of fights this past week was Jai Opetaia's fifth-round knockout of Claudio Squeo to retain his IBF cruiserweight title. Opetaia's bout with Squeo was his third consecutive voluntary defense against overmatched opposition since winning the belt for a second time in May 2024 in a rematch with Mairis Briedis.
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The Aussie fighter, who many regard as the No. 1 cruiserweight in the world, has been crying out for unification fights. With the WBC ordering a Badou Jack vs. Noel Mikaelyan rematch, Opetaia likely only has one option for a unification bout in 2025: Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez.
"We really need His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] to pull up for that fight in Riyadh Season," Hearn said of a potential Opetaia vs. Ramirez three-belt unification. "[Alalshikh has] given Jai some tremendous opportunities, but to lead to this? So I think you're going to see Jai Opetaia vs. 'Zurdo' Ramirez in October [or] November time in Riyadh. It's a tremendous fight, pound-for-pound one of the best fights in the sport, and, of course, the best fight in the division."