Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence Crawford are in the final stages of finalizing a blockbuster September super middleweight championship fight between pound-for-pound greats in Las Vegas.
Uncrowned’s Keith Idec first reported the news Monday with Ring Magazine, which is owned by Turki Alalshikh. Alvarez and Crawford are expected to headline a Riyadh Season show, the promotional entity operated by Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.
A former undisputed champion at 147 pounds, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) moved up to 154 pounds in August and captured the WBA and WBO interim junior middleweight titles with a successful divisional debut against Israil Madrimov. Now, however, Crawford will vault up two more weight classes to 168 pounds to challenge boxing’s biggest star, Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs), who has fought at high as the 175-pound light heavyweight division. ESPN reported Monday that there is not expected to be any catchweight or rehydration clauses attached to the fight.
Contracts for the super-fight have yet to be signed.
Crawford, 37, is Uncrowned’s No. 2 ranked pound-for-pound boxer in the world, while Alvarez, 34, is Uncrowned’s No. 6 ranked pound-for-pound male boxer.
As part of the deal, Alvarez is first expected to defend his WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles against a yet-to-be-decided opponent on Cinco De Mayo weekend in May. That fight could come against IBF champion William Scull, who won the vacant title in October. A victory over Scull would once again make Alvarez the undisputed champion of the division heading into the targeted bout with Crawford.
Alalshikh has long called for a bout to be made between the two future Hall of Famers Alvarez and Crawford. Alvarez resisted the initial overtures, but eventually saw things Alalshikh’s way after a London meeting between the two powerbrokers in January.
Alvarez competed twice in 2024, winning decisions over Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga.
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