U.S. fans are upset at learning that the kickoff press conference for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight will be hosted in June in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The fight will be staged in the U.S., not Saudi Arabia, on September 13th. The event organizers still count on the U.S fans to purchase the event in large numbers on PPV.

They might feel they can afford to ignore the U.S. fans because of Canelo’s huge fan base in North America and Crawford’s newer fans. Despite the kickoff press conference happening in Riyadh, the U.S. media will cover the event in large numbers, informing fans what’s going on with the contest in the build-up to their September 13th match.

The Saudis have the money to market the Canelo-Crawford fight in the U.S, which will cause fans to overlook being left out of the kick-off press conference in Riyadh and potentially over conferences if they continue to be staged there.

For Whom Is This Sport?

Some believe the kick-off press conference is being held in Riyadh to prioritize financial gain. Saudi Arabia can make money hosting these events. However, the move alienates Canelo and Crawford’s core fan bases, who don’t have the money or time to travel thousands of miles to attend the press conference in Riyadh.

Turki Alalshikh had previously talked about reviving boxing to bring it back to where it once was. Staging press conferences for U.S.-based fights in Saudi Arabia could have a reverse effect, making the boxing event more of a secondary niche sport. We have already seen how only a small VIP crowd attended the Times Square card on May 2nd.

These were the chosen ones, and the event was highly exclusive. It’s fine if you’re one of the uber-rich or super successful people who get selected for these events, but what if you’re not? Is that what’s happening to our sport? How can it continue to grow if it’s becoming more exclusive?

The Ring reports that these three cities are options for Canelo-Crawford

– Las Vegas
– Los Angeles
– New York City