A report from Turki Alalshikh’s Ring Magazine stating that the Saudi boxing financier is moving his Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight from September 12 in Las Vegas to September 13 (a Saturday) at one of five possible US locations is being painted as a second misdirection campaign, an industry insider told BoxingScene on Tuesday.

Following a Ring report in February stating that Alvarez was interested in fighting Jake Paul, only for Alvarez to turn to then-IBF super middleweight titleholder William Scull for a Cinco de Mayo weekend bout in Saudi Arabia that was widely panned for its inactivity, Tuesday’s report is said to be another turn toward gamesmanship.

The boxing official who spoke to BoxingScene said Alvarez-Crawford streamer Netflix is set to report in the near future that the fight is staying right where it was originally announced – Friday, September 12, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Why the “news” of the new date and location has been floated is unknown, except that promoters can engage in gamesmanship when competing with others over dates – particularly the prized Mexican Independence Day weekend that undisputed 168lbs champion Alvarez has ruled for years.

As of now, the only other major bout that weekend is Naoya Inoue’s defense of his undisputed junior featherweight title against Murodjon “M.J.” Akhmadaliev in Tokyo on September 14.

Scheduling Alvarez versus unbeaten four-division champion Crawford on a Friday in an NFL stadium has seemed odd from the outset after Alalshikh took a financial bath when he staged his May 2 Times Square card in front of a small group of VIPs and then moving Mexico’s popular Alvarez off his traditional Cinco de Mayo weekend Saturday in Las Vegas to fight before another paltry crowd in Saudi Arabia.

For now, the fight is locked out of Saturday or Sunday at Allegiant Stadium by a UNLV football game September 13 and the possibility that the Las Vegas Raiders will play a home game there September 14. (Additionally, fight promoter and UFC president Dana White will also be staging UFC Noche in Guadalaraja, Mexico, on September 13.)

If the fight were to take place on a Friday, Alvarez-Crawford would start on a weeknight when those in the Pacific Time Zone are still getting home from work – further weakening the drawing power of that bout.

“The bloom is already off the Canelo rose after his fight in Saudi Arabia. How many are excited to watch this?” asked a veteran boxing insider talking separately from the other industry official.

Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because of existing business arrangements that could be compromised by speaking candidly on these matters.

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.