Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford could provide the boost U.S. boxing desperately needs

When Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence “Bud” Crawford step through the ropes Saturday, the weight of U.S. boxing rests firmly on their shoulders.

Not only are they fighting for Alvarez’s undisputed super middleweight crown in the Netflix main event from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, but they are also battling to keep boxing relevant in the country that has served as the sport’s epicenter for more than a century.

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Boxing in the U.S. is arguably at its lowest point since its first golden age began in the early 20th century. Long gone are the days when the sport thrived on major networks like CBS, NBC, ABC, HBO, Showtime and ESPN. Today, HBO and Showtime have exited the sport, and ESPN has cut ties with Top Rank, leaving the broadcasters’ future in the sport unclear. No major television network is truly invested in boxing.

Of the four major entities that operate stateside — Premier Boxing Champions, Top Rank, Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy — the latter two have existing TV deals with DAZN, which has far less than 1 million U.S. subscribers. PBC has an agreement with Amazon Prime, but the partnership has been thin — just six events a year, with all but one or two hidden behind pay-per-view. Prime is understood to be paying minimal rights fees for PBC’s non-pay-per-view cards, while promotion of the pay-per-views on the platform has been limited.

Top Rank has known since early 2025, at least, that ESPN would not be renewing their eight-year partnership worth more than $80 million annually. Still, it has yet to find a new TV partner. Despite conversations with multiple broadcasters, no serious offer has materialized. The rights fees discussed are understood to be a fraction of what Top Rank once commanded.

It’s a stark contrast to the UFC, which inked a mind-boggling seven-year, $7.7 billion rights deal with Paramount and CBS last month. The networks are paying $1.1 billion for 43 events per year — 13 numbered shows and 30 Fight Nights — at an average of more than $25 million per event. Not only is the UFC cashing in, but it announced that it would be ditching the pay-per-view model, allowing select UFC numbered events that air on CBS to be accessible in just about every household in the U.S.

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300 million homes for its biggest events and a $1.1 billion annual budget — Dana White has created a monster. Is it any wonder that Saudi Arabian boxing financier Turki Alalshikh has chosen to partner with White — and WWE president Nick Khan — for TKO Boxing and entrusted the UFC CEO with the lead promoter role for Alvarez vs. Crawford?

Just a few hours after Alvarez vs. Crawford, Naoya Inoue, Uncrowned’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer in the world, defends his undisputed super bantamweight title against Murodjon Akhmadaliev in Japan. Top Rank holds Inoue’s U.S. broadcast rights, yet at the time of writing, no American network has been confirmed for the fight. It is a damning indictment of the sport that one of its very best fighters — and one of its biggest global stars — can enter fight week without a U.S. television partner. Boxing in the U.S. is in dire straits.

On Saturday, however, that has the potential to change, and boxing could get the shot in the arm it desperately needs.

Two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, including the biggest star of the past decade in Alvarez, collide in front of 60,000 fans at Allegiant Stadium and what will surely be a multi-million audience on Netflix. The last superfight in U.S. boxing was Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia in April 2023. Alvarez-Crawford, unlike Davis-Garcia, features two of the best fighters in the world — Davis and Garcia were the two biggest stars in the division rather than pound-for-pound top fighters — and it’s not behind an $80 paywall.

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Boxing is in the shop window this week. Millions of potential casual fans will have the chance to stumble upon the event, making it a rare mainstream showcase for the sport. And boxing desperately needs to show out for the folks passing by.

Netflix has dipped its toes in boxing twice before: Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul and Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3. Tyson vs. Paul was simply a farce and left fans heavily underwhelmed. Taylor and Serrano gave fans Fight of the Year contenders in their first two meetings, but when they collided for the third time in front of Netflix cameras, it just never caught fire. The sport is 0-2 on delivering on the biggest of stages in recent times, and so it desperately needs Alvarez vs. Crawford to show the man on the street why boxing is still worth watching.

Alvarez and Crawford will step into the ring Saturday fighting for more than just personal legacy — they are fighting for the survival of American boxing itself.