Jake Paul calls Canelo Alvarez ‘owned slave’ after ditching $80 million payday to sign with Turki Alalshikh

Jake Paul slams into 'owned' Canelo Alvarez for pulling out of Cinco de Mayo boxing fight in place for Riyadh Season deal.

Jake Paul calls Canelo Alvarez ‘owned slave’ after ditching $80 million payday to sign with Turki Alalshikh

Jake Paul hits out at Canelo Alvarez for ducking out on Cinco de Mayo boxing bout (Source: IMAGO/X)

The aftermath of Thursday’s eleventh-hour, and seemingly definitive, twist in a brief boxing rollercoaster was something! Canelo Alvarez doesn’t do exhibition boxing bouts. Jake Paul has been angling at one since 2022. It seemingly looked like both were in for a massive haul with a deal under works; until they weren’t. Now, Alvarez has a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season. All that happened within a day.

Former YouTuber prizefighter Jake Paul is now a full pro-sanction boxer. Him vs. the iconic Mike Tyson headlined MVP’s Netflix boxing event from the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T. While sad for pure boxing purists, the natural course was Paul vs. Canelo Alvarez and it almost happened. Almost is a big takeaway; Paul now rips the Mexican fame boxer for being the Problem Child in this particular scenario.

Breaking news: Canelo Alvarez ducked me Jake Paul and is now an owned slave with no regard for the pride of the Mexican people who support him on US soil. 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…

Jake Paul via X (@jakepaul)
YouTube video

Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s GEA, said Alvarez has a four-fight deal with the extended Riyadh Season. The current WBC and WBO super middleweight champion at 168 pounds, he’s to box in Saudi Arabia in May in the first tail of his deal. He will also face welterweight champion Terence Crawford in September at Allegiant Stadium.

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In light of that pound-for-pound money fight, Paul insinuated the Mexican superstar acted out as a money-hog and disregarded other variables. Those variables, Paul’s MVP Promotions said in a press release, would have included a fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas.

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According to a report from ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, Jake Paul and Alvarez were finalizing a deal to box under pro-sanction rules. It was to be on May 3, 2025, at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV. The fight was to be at the cruiserweight limits with live streaming on Netflix.

Team Jake Paul release scathing memo after Canelo Alvarez snub, slam shady promoters
Team Jake Paul release scathing memo after Canelo Alvarez snub, slam shady promoters (Source: X)

Regardless of his skills/crossover culture, Paul is a big name in boxing. Many say his last fight was rigged, but even to make that fight a reality was a big thing. Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn presented that Saudi GEA was scrapping “Bud” and going Canelo Alvarez vs. Paul route. Despite reservations, it’d have opted for a sweet almost-$100 ($80) million windfall and pay-per-view spotlight.

The Netflix side of things was expected but not written in stone. Hearn told IFLTV that if on Amazon Prime, it’d be a DAZN PPV stream. With two million potential buys at $90 mark, without live gate earning or closed circuit, would be $180 million alone! A Netflix affair would increase that to $200 million. However, Canelo left ‘Problem Child’ high and dry. MVP released a first press statement after that.

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Paul (11-1, 7 KOs), highly critiqued, made the biggest of matchups possible even without that Riyadh backing. His stock among big-ticket pugilists also increased skills-wise when he swiped bare-knuckle boxer Mike Perry in an eight-round cruiserweight battle for DAZN PPV. However, Paul now faces a legacy slump as a mainstream boxer shuts it down. That too, despite an interminable search for 168-pound contenders on Mexican-themed days like Cinco de Mayo.

Related: Top 10 boxers of the 21st century