Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO) got his guy and likely secured a serious bag in the process.
According to Ring Magazine, Canelo Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KO) and Crawford have an agreement in place to fight on September 13 at a yet-to-be-determined venue in Las Vegas.
The fight will be contested at 168 pounds and will be for Canelo’s super middleweight titles. Since Crawford began working with Saudi powerbroker Turki Alalshikh, the future Hall-of-Famer has made it clear that he wanted to set up a superfight with the Mexican legend.
After making his preference known for more than a year, it appears Canelo is on board for what could produce the largest payday in boxing history. Canelo, 34, is expected to keep with his tradition of fighting in May ahead of his September fight.
The prime candidate for the fight in May is William Scull. Following a unanimous decision win over Vladimir Shishkin, Scull became the IBF super middleweight champion. If Canelo fights and defeats Scull, he will once again be the undisputed super middleweight champion.
Crawford is the reigning WBA junior middleweight champion at 154 pounds, so he will be moving up two weight classes to face a fellow all-time great in one of the biggest boxing matches in the past 10 years.
The fight is expected to be the main event for an upcoming Riyadh Season event. It seems like the T-Mobile Arena, MGM Grand, or even Allegiant Stadium could be the landing place for the fight.
Also, based on the precedent Alalshikh and Riyadh Season have established over the past two years, it wouldn’t be a shock if the card was stacked with other intriguing fights to guarantee a mega event.
In Canelo’s last fight, he scored a unanimous decision win over Edgar Berlanga in September 2024. While Canelo has won his last five fights against Berlanga, Jaime Munguia, Jermell Charlo, John Ryder, and Gennady Golovkin, he hasn’t scored a KO win since he stopped Caleb Plant in the 11th round in November 2021.
Crawford remains undefeated, coming off a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Israil Madrimov in November 2024. If Crawford doesn’t take a tune-up fight in May, he will have been out of the ring for nearly a year by the time he fights Canelo.
It will be interesting to see if he elects to wait for Canelo or if he takes a stay-busy fight sometime between April and June.
Once again, it appears Alalshikh has succeeded in making a blockbuster fight that probably wouldn’t have been made without his input.
What’s Next in Boxing?
Saturday, February 8, 2025
- Dereck Chisora vs. Otto Wallin
- Location: Co-Op Live Arena, Manchester, GB
- Time: 2:00 PM (ET)
Friday, February 14, 2025
- WBO World Lightweight Championship: (c) Denys Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn Davis
- Xander Zayas vs. Slawa Spomer
- Vito Mielnicki vs. Connor Coyle
- Jared Anderson vs. Marios Kollias
- Abdullah Mason vs. Manuel Jaimes
- Location: The Theater at MSG, New York City, US
- Time: 8:00 PM (ET)
Saturday, February 15, 2025
- Jack Catterall vs. Arnold Barboza
- Location: Co-Op Live Arena, Manchester, GB
- Time: Noon (ET)
- Oscar Duarte vs. Regis Prograis
- Honda Center, Anaheim, California, US
- Time: 8 PM (ET)
Saturday, February 22, 2025
- The Ring, WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF Light Heavyweight Championship: (c) Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol
- IBF Heavyweight Championship: (c) Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker
- WBC Lightweight Championship (c) Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield
- WBC Middleweight Championship (c) Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov
- Joshua Buatsi vs. Callum Smith
- Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel
- Location: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, SA
- Time: Noon (ET)
Monday, February 24, 2025
- WBC World Bantamweight Championship: (c) Junto Nakatani vs. David Cuellar Contreras
- Location: Ariake Arena, Tokyo, JP
- Time: 2:00 AM (ET)
Saturday, March 1, 2025
- WBA World Lightweight Championship: (c) Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr.
- Location: Barclays Center, New York City, US
- Time: 8:00 PM (ET)
Friday, March 7, 2025
- The Ring Welterweight Championship: (c) Natasha Jonas vs. Lauren Price
- Location: Royal Albert Hall, London, GB
- Time: 1:00 PM (ET)
Saturday, March 15, 2025
- WBA World Featherweight Championship: (c) Nick Ball vs. TJ Doheny
- Location: M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, GB
- Time: 1:00 PM (ET)
Sunday, March 16, 2025
- Callum Walsh vs. Dean Sutherland
- Location: The Theater at MSG, New York City, US
- Time: 9:00 PM (ET)