Jake Paul and Canelo Alvarez will NOT fight in May after the Mexican signed a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season - including a September showdown with Terence Crawford.

Paul and Alvarez were reportedly set to sign for a May fight before news broke that Alvarez has taken a different route. He will now fight an unknown opponent in May in Saudi Arabia before facing Crawford in Las Vegas in the autumn. He will then have two further fights in Saudi Arabia next year. Crawford will not fight before taking on Alvarez.

Announcing the news, boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh said: ""Don’t mess with the lion ... 4 fights for Canelo with Riyadh Season … The Deal is done … A Lion doesn’t lose sleep over opinion of a sheep… Fear the lion not the jungle."

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Paul is now without an opponent for his return to the ring after promoter Eddie Hearn had said the bout with Alvarez was a "done deal". 'The Problem Child' has not fought since defeating former heavyweight champion back in November, winning on points against the 58-year-old.

Reports of a showdown with Canelo began to circulate after ESPN Knockout analyst Julius Julianis surprisingly claimed that the two stars had agreed a deal to meet in May. Those reports then forced 'The Problem Child' to take to social media to announce his own date, which appears to have been a smokescreen. He posted on X: "It’s time. Saturday July 5. New York, New York."

Paul has made a bit of a habit of calling out Canelo. Following his win over Ryan Bourland last year, the American was . "Canelo, stop ducking. I know you want it. I’m repping Puerto Rico and you’re repping Mexico, so it’s Puerto Rico vs Mexico. I want all the biggest names, I’m the face of this sport, who is doing more for boxing than me? The most-followed boxer and most viral KO’s, period," he said.

Alvarez himself has previously admitted that he would only consider fighting the 28-year-old when he is "done with boxing." Speaking on The Full Send Podcast, 'Saul' said: "When I’m done with boxing [at the highest level], why not? Yeah, maybe. I think it’s good because it brings fans who don’t normally watch boxing. They know , but they don’t know anything about boxing. Maybe [I’ll take the Paul fight]." That said, 2025 could be the biggest year of Alvarez's life financially if he was to fight both Paul and Crawford. As for 'The Problem Child,' the clash with 'Saul' will be the perfect opportunity to prove his doubters wrong once again and show why he's one of the biggest stars in the sport.