The fight will be staged at NFL side Las Vegas Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium in Vegas, which holds 65,000 people.
It will also be the first event that UFC president Dana White’s new boxing outfit will promote, a partnership with Saudi’s Turki Alalshikh that almost collapsed before being revived in recent weeks.
Alalshikh himself was given a seat at the top table while White was not present.
The chairman of the General Entertainment Authority has been the hand of power and driver of incredible Saudi investment in boxing in the last 18 months, but has not often been sat among the fighters at public events.
Alalshikh outlined his demands to two of the greatest fighters of their generation in the opening remarks, slamming “Tom and Jerry” fights and insisting they must deliver him “smashing face”.
The beginning of a three-city press tour that includes Las Vegas and New York, gathered media only asked Alalshikh questions before he left the stage.
It took almost 25 minutes before either fighter spoke.
Saudi Arabia has invested huge sums of money into sport in an effort, the Kingdom say, to diversify their income revenues as a nation, but continue to face accusations of using sport as a vehicle for sportwashing and propaganda.
But with Alalshikh set to embark on a new venture of super-fights broadcast on Netflix and creating a new promotional entity to do so, the Saudi investment into boxing shows little sign of slowing down.
Back to the boxing and the news conference ended with the traditional face-off.
Dramatic music blared during it, with Alvarez being the first to look away in a emotionless staredown.
Crawford, who is being publicly backed by Alalshikh, said this is the fight he always wanted.
“I called Canelo out, he is the last great fighter amongst the era that surpassed us. The Floyd [Mayweather], the [Manny] Pacquiao, the [Oscar] De La Hoya. We both came up in that era and he got the chance to fight them.
“I wasn’t able to get those mega fights, this is my mega fight. This is my moment.”
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