Francis Ngannou Gets Swept Up in Canelo Alvarez vs. Jake Paul Drama as Turki Alalshikh Clears the Air

According to many fans, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh might have saved boxing. On Friday, the GEA chairman announced a four-fight deal between Canelo Alvarez and Riyadh Season. The announcement also scrapped the almost confirmed fight of the Mexican champion against Jake Paul, something the fans were apprehensive about, as it would have cost them the dream fight against Terence Crawford.

After the chaos settled down, the Saudi Royal sat down with Mike Coppinger, like a hero, sharing details about the blockbuster deal. While talking about the deal, His Excellency took a slight dig at Jake Paul as well, which seemingly got him in trouble online. Surprisingly, former UFC champion Francis Ngannou also got dragged into the conversation.

Jake Paul’s boxing dream laughed off

As HE Alalshikh’s ESPN interview went viral, prominent boxing page @HappyPunch posted a clip from the conversation. In the snippet shared online, the Riyadh Season figurehead claimed that “Canelo is too young to take this fight,” against Jake Paul. It was a clear dig at The Problem Child and his choice of opponents, which involved either retired or non-professional boxers. “You can have it after 30 years when he is 60,” added HE Alalshikh as Mike Coppinger let out a chuckle.

The GEA chairman took the joke even further as he claimed to want to make a YouTuber dream fight between Paul and James Donaldson, aka MrBeast. “Let them bring MrBeast and we can sanction it with Disney for the belt of YouTube. Everyone will subscribe and see it,” stated HE Alalshikh sarcastically. The statement took Coppinger aback, who knew that the comment would create a stir.

Well, it didn’t take long for the statement to attract criticism as boxing insider Wade Plemons decided to share his views, forcing His Excellency to defend himself.

Francis Ngannou: Novelty or Champion?

Plemons quoted the video and wrote, “This is a funny line by Turki lol,” as he went on to allege HE Alalshikh of hypocrisy. He claimed that even though the Saudi promoter is disgusted by the idea of Canelo Alvarez’s novelty fight against a former YouTuber, he himself has hosted some in the past. According to him, both the Francis Ngannou fights against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua fall into the same category.

“But he did put together Francis Ngannou vs Tyson Fury who was the sitting champ at the time and AJ with Francis having no pro boxing experience. Let’s not act like he’s above the “circus” wrote Plemons in his critique. After all, Ngannou had never had a professional boxing match before facing world champion boxers. So, “Let’s not act like he’s above the “circus,” added Plemons.

The criticism forced the Saudi Royal to defend himself as he replied to Plemons and claimed there was a big difference in both situations. While Jake Paul is fighting old fighters like Mike Tyson, Ngannou “is the world champion in mma big difference👍.”

On one hand, ‘The Predator’ is one of the most dominant fighters the world has ever seen. So, he doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb in the boxing ring, unlike Jake Paul’s opponents. On the other hand, Plemons is not too far off either. What do you make of HE Alalshikh’s statement? Do you think Francis Ngannou’s boxing career falls under the same category as Jake Paul’s fight? Let us know your thoughts down below.