Turki Alalshikh tweets Crawford-Ennis is born

JUST a few minutes had passed since Jaron Ennis had, as predicted, defeated David Avanesyan before everyone turned their attention to who or what might be next for the IBF welterweight champion. This was Ennis’ first title defense, his first fight under new sponsor Eddie Hearn and his first time in six years fighting in his hometown of Philadelphia.

Both Ennis and Hearn were keen to fight Terence Crawford, who had won the IBF title officially and handed it to ‘Boots’ from the get-go.

Hearn cheekily suggested that Crawford would lose to Israil Madrimov on August 3. Eddie promotes Madrimov, so he would say so. Believe it or not, a Crawford fight is still at the top of a few fighters’ shopping lists.

Terence Crawford to fight in fourth weight class on August 3

Most of these fights remained just a pipe dream, a dream vision. Until Saudi Arabia’s sports wing, led by Turki Alalahsikh, got involved in boxing.

Suddenly money is no longer a barrier and often the fights we want are made. Turki is friendly with Hearn and his former domestic rival Frank Warren.

As soon as Ennis mentioned Crawford’s name, Alalshikh logged into X to express his approval, then called Eddie and Jaron to reinforce his interest in the match.

I just got in touch with Jaron Ennis and Eddie Hearn to congratulate him on his win and I would love to see Ennis fight Crawford at 154 soon🤷🏻‍♂️🥊🔥

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) July 14, 2024

‘Sir’ covers a lot of ground. He’s previously stated his desire to see Crawford make weight and challenge Canelo. Either way, Crawford now has options backed by money. First, he needs to get past Madrimov and then decide which check he wants to cash.