A monumental showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford appears more likely after the pair met with boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh over the weekend.
The two pound-for-pound stars have seemingly been on a collision course for the best part of a year, with Crawford, 41-0 (31 KOs), expressing his desire to take on the super middleweight king.
In his last outing, the 37-year-old became a four-division world champion after dethroning formidable Uzbek Israil Madrimov with a unanimous decision victory.
Before that, Crawford cemented his dominance at welterweight, producing a punishing ninth-round stoppage over Errol Spence Jr to become a two-weight undisputed titlist.
But instead of sailing off into the sunset, โBudโ looks to enhance his greatness by stepping up two divisions โ 14 lbs โ in a legacy-defining clash.
Canelo, 62-2-2 (39 KOs), though, has previously expressed little interest in taking on the WBA super welterweight titlist, knowing that he would be a sizable favourite to retain his jewellery.
The 34-year-old has amassed five unanimous decision victories โ beating the likes of a faded Gennady Golovkin and undersized Jermell Charlo โ since losing to Dmitry Bivol back in 2022.
But now, it appears that Alalshikh is close to convincing the Mexican to roll the dice against Crawford.
Esteemed boxing journalist Julius Julianis has even reported that a deal for the pair to lock horns in September has been reached.
And so, the Riyadh Season chief has seemingly restored his working relationship with Canelo after meeting with him in London, with the Crawford fight expected to take place in Las Vegas.