Start with what Fannon is not reporting: nobody has officially canceled anything, and at no point in the video does he claim otherwise. But on his latest Fannon International Boxing Channel episode, he says the October 31 Canelo Alvarez Super Middleweight Championship fight against Christian Mbilli in Saudi Arabia is, in his words, almost surely getting canceled — and that the announcement will say the whole event is off.
Per Fannon, things in Saudi Arabia have taken a drastic turn and the promotion is already in “plan B” mode. He says there is a growing possibility the country cancels major events in the aftermath of ongoing geopolitical events in the region — a shift he describes as swift, drastic, and still developing. Jennifer, the channel’s AI commentator, says she expects an announcement within the coming days, with the event still unsettled about two months out from fight night.
The only hold-up, Fannon argues, is money: Saudi Arabia and Turki Alalshikh do not want to cancel because of the sheer amount of money already spent on the event. But he expects the cancellation to happen — and when it does, he says, the sport may learn the real reason why Terence Crawford never got his Canelo rematch. Fannon says he cannot yet name the person responsible for why the rematch never got made, and promises to get to that point in coming episodes. His closing note is that both fights ultimately got caught by forces bigger than the men in them.
His prescription is a pivot, not a postponement. He does not expect Mbilli to be moved to Europe or to the United States, and he does not expect a replacement date to be announced with the cancellation. What he expects instead is the Mbilli fight to be treated as scrapped, its money going back into whatever comes next. All of that is Fannon’s reporting, nobody else’s confirmation — and he is careful to keep it that way.
Officially, October 31 is still on the calendar. Fannon is betting the announcement is a formality.
Video credit: Fannon International Boxing Channel.
