RIYADH: Boxing superstars Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford shared the stage in Riyadh on Friday at the start of a promotional tour ahead of their highly anticipated bout in Las Vegas on Sept. 13.

The two champions, who will face off for the unified super-middleweight title and a specially crafted Ring Magazine belt valued at $188,000, appeared at a press conference in Boulevard City as part of Riyadh Season.

鈥淢y goal is always being in these kinds of fights: big fights,鈥� Alvarez, the reigning undisputed champion with a record of 62 wins, 39 of them by knockout, told Arab News. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 here again. So I feel grateful and excited.鈥�

He added that the sport has developed and progressed in the Kingdom in recent years, adding: 鈥淭urki Alalshikh (chairperson of the General Entertainment Authority) has helped a lot. Right now we have boxing gyms here and they鈥檙e helping a lot of kids. So that鈥檚 very nice.鈥�

Looking ahead to his showdown with Crawford, the Mexican fighter said: 鈥淚 think this fight is going to be one of my best fights in my history, in my record. I鈥檓 very excited and motivated. This is what it鈥檚 all about. I want to make history.鈥�

Asked for his thoughts on his opponent, Alvarez said: 鈥淒on鈥檛 get me wrong, he鈥檚 a great fighter 鈥� but like I said, he鈥檚 not Canelo. He鈥檚 one of the top fighters I鈥檓 going to face in my career, for sure.鈥�

Crawford, an American fighter who holds a record of 41 wins, with 31 knockouts, and is a four-division world champion, said: 鈥淭his is my moment and I鈥檓 not letting Canelo take it away from me. It鈥檚 going to be an exciting day for boxing; history will be made.鈥�

Alalshikh said the fight marks the beginning of a long-term partnership with Netflix, which will stream the bout to more than 300 million subscribers worldwide.

鈥淲e will do big things together and this is the beginning of a great relationship between the Kingdom of 萝莉视频, the GEA and Netflix,鈥� he added.

Asked what he hopes to see from the fighters during their bout, Alalshikh said: 鈥淚鈥檓 sure they will deliver for me smashing face and blood.鈥�

As for the decision to stage the fight in Las Vegas, he described the city as 鈥渢he capital of boxing.鈥�

The promotional tour will continue in New York City on June 22 and Las Vegas on June 27.