Last week, for about a day, boxing had what was sure to be a huge pay-per-view draw on the table when ESPN reported that the undisputed super middleweight champion, Canelo Alvarez, and Jake Paul were finalizing a deal for a fight in May 2025 in Las Vegas.

On Monday, Ring Magazine reported that Alvarez and Crawford had an agreement in place for a deal that would see Crawford challenge Alvarez for his unified super middleweight titles, before a subsequent Ring Magazine report two days later indicated the fight was canceled for undisclosed reasons.

The fallout from Thursday’s major, and apparently final, twist on a short boxing roller coaster ride likely only is just beginning.