Dana White clarified Sunday afternoon that Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford will have the entire fan base of combat sports to themselves when they enter the ring
Sept. 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.The UFC president/CEO and promoter of
Alvarez-Crawford announced during their press conference at Javits Center in New York that their 12-round, 168-pound championship showdown won’t be streamed on Netflix at the same time ESPN+ streams the main event of UFC Noche 2025.
White didn’t specify the times that
Alvarez-Crawford and the main event of UFC Noche 2025, which hasn’t been announced, will begin.
“I’ve always had this theory that if you can get people to stay home on a Saturday night,” White said, “and you put on two great fights the same night — we have UFC Noche that night, and I know that there’s a lotta questions about this. The main events, the main cards, will not cross over.
“You’ll be able to watch one right into the other, so to be part of a historic night on Mexican Independence Day — I love it. I feel very blessed to be here. Thank [Turki Alalshikh] and both fighters up here. It’s gonna be a great night, historic night of fighting.”
Alalshikh dismissed rumors during the first Alvarez-Crawford press conference Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that
Alvarez and
Crawford would fight on the afternoon so that it wouldn’t conflict with UFC Noche 2025.
UFC Noche 2025, also known as UFC Fight Night 259, will take place at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. That event, which coincides with UFC’s annual celebration of Mexican Independence Day, was originally set to be held in Alvarez’s hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico.
Alvarez, boxing’s biggest star in the United States, often fights around the time of Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16). The four-division champion has fought on or around that date eight times since 2011 — six times in Las Vegas, once in Arlington, Texas, and once in Los Angeles.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, will challenge Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) for his Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles. Alvarez, 34, is a slight favorite to defeat Crawford, 37, in a fight that will be streamed to more than 300 million Netflix subscribers worldwide.
Crawford could become an undisputed champion in a third weight class, unprecedented during boxing’s four-belt era, if he pulls off a mild upset against Alvarez.
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing