Remember the now-canceled Canelo Alvarez vs. Jake Paul fight? Yes, that one! As it turns out, Saudi Arabian boxing figurehead Turki Alalshikh wasn’t the only factor behind its downfall. According to boxing insider Rick Glaser, Paul’s business partner, Nakisa Bidarian, played a major role in sending the fight to its inevitable doom.

Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Canelo and Paul were in advanced talks for a May 3rd boxing match, set to be broadcast live on Netflix. However, The Ring later revealed that His Excellency Turki Alalshikh swooped in at the last minute to sign Canelo to a four-fight deal, effectively killing the matchup.

Frustrated over losing out on a massive payday, Paul took to social media, calling Canelo a money-hungry squirrel while flashing what he claimed was their signed fight contract. But according to Glaser, there’s more to the story—and a huge reason the fight collapsed appears to be Paul’s own business partner.

“Sources close to the now failed negotiation for Canelo-Jake Paul have confirmed the deal fell apart at the 11th hour due to MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian attempting to renegotiate terms with Canelo,” Glaser wrote on X. “Including financial split, & demanding other privileges from Boxing’s biggest Star Canelo.”

Glaser also suggested that the document Paul proudly displayed in his video wasn’t actually a fight contract but rather a “confidentiality agreement.” He even offered some advice to Paul’s team, urging them to handle negotiations more carefully next time. “The next time Bidarian has an opportunity to do big business in Boxing, he should get the deal closed before Jake Paul starts celebrating,” Glaser wrote.

Regardless, Canelo is now slated to appear in the ring against IBF super middleweight champion William Scull on May 3rd for the undisputed title fight. This will lead to a second undisputed fight against former undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford on September 13th at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

While Paul may have lost the opportunity to fight Canelo Alvarez, because of his business partner or not, another fight that fans have been asking for is starting to look real.

KSI finally agrees to meet demands from Jake Paul after Canelo Alvarez fight collapse

KSI has signaled his willingness to meet Jake Paul’s weight demands, setting the stage for a long-awaited grudge match between the influencer boxing rivals. With Paul’s fight against Canelo Alvarez failing to materialize, KSI sees an opportunity to finally settle their feud in the ring.

“For me, I’m like, if weight is the problem, I’m going to start having to just get bigger, and that’s what I’m doing,” KSI told Ariel Helwani. “Over the years, I’ve been getting bigger and bigger so that eventually when he goes, ‘Oh no, it’s the weight, I’ll fight you at 190 or 195lbs,’ I’ll go, ‘Alright, let’s go.’”

Paul’s recent bout with Mike Tyson was set at heavyweight, while KSI has mostly competed at cruiserweight. However, KSI insists he’s putting on weight the right way. “I don’t want to put on that type of weight because it’s not good weight. It’s weight that slows you down,” he explained.

KSI is confident he can embarrass Paul in the ring. “Bro, I think I make him look s***. The same way Chisora made Otto Wallin look s***… That’s what I’m going to do to Jake.” As for whether the fight would happen in 2025, KSI said, “You know what, yes! I think, Netflix… because they’re buddy-buddy, the thing is, I’m buddy-buddy with Netflix as well but I’m pretty sure that Netflix will see that Jake Paul/KSI fight and go ‘We need to do this, we need to make this happen.’ Or, I imagine DAZN will also come into play.”

Having said that, per Glaser, Bidarian caused the downfall of the Canelo Alvarez fight, so perhaps Paul’s business partner can handle the potential KSI fight better. However, whether the Paul-KSI fight actually happens or not is yet to be seen. Meanwhile, let us know your thoughts on Bidarian causing the Canelo fight’s downfall.