Alalshikh offering knockout bonus in the fight between Canelo and Crawford

Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and president of the Saudi Boxing Federation, announced that there will be a bonus for a knockout, in the fight for undisputed super-middleweight title between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) and Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs).

Canelo will face Crawford on September 13 in Las Vegas.

Alalshikh was not happy with the fight between Canelo and William Scull on May 3, which ended with unanimous decision victory of Canelo. There were very few punches in that fight.

The announcement came during the kickoff presser for Alvarez-Crawford in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Alalshikh has been steadfast in putting an end to “Tom & Jerry fights,” where one fighter is “running around the ring and another fighter is chasing him.” To counter this, he has installed a knockout bonus that will be implemented in future fights he promotes, starting with Alvarez-Crawford.

“We will not have [Tom & Jerry fights] anymore,” Alalshikh said. “We will have in this fight and our next fights a bonus for a KO.”

Alalshikh did not specify how much the bonus would be or whether it would be installed for the undercard.

As for the fighters, Alvarez and Crawford were cordial yet stern in their confidence for the upcoming fight, which will air on Netflix.

“However I got to fight, I’m going to win,” said Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs). “I’m not going to let someone else tell me how to fight when I’ve been doing that my whole life. I won’t be running. I can tell you that. But I will be doing a lot of touching.”

Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) suggested that there was “nothing different” about Crawford in comparison to his previous opponents and made it clear that he would prevent the former two-division undisputed world champion from leaving Las Vegas as boxing’s only male fighter to be undisputed in three weight classes.

“He’s not going to beat me,” Alvarez said. “Don’t worry about it. … I’m a winner.”