Canelo Alvarez, GGG announce plans for 3rd fight
Time for the trilogy.
Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez will return to 168 pounds to defend his title Sept. 17 against rival Gennady Golovkin, Matchroom Boxing announced Tuesday.
A venue has not been finalized, but Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn said this month that the fight would probably be in Las Vegas.
The fight, a DAZN pay-per-view event, will be the third between the superstars, concluding a trilogy that began Sept. 17, 2017, with a controversial draw at T-Mobile Arena.
Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 knockouts) won the rematch by majority decision Sept. 16, 2018, at T-Mobile Arena, to unify the middleweight championships and become boxing’s biggest star. The victory, though equally controversial, remains one of Alvarez’s crowning achievements.
Alvarez, 31, is coming off his first loss since 2013, a 12-round schooling by WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena. Alvarez said afterward he wanted a rematch with Bivol, who can now look toward a mandatory defense against Gilberto Ramirez or a unification fight against Artur Beterbiev or Joe Smith Jr.
The 40-year-old Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) unified the middleweight titles last month by knocking out Ryota Murata in Japan. The fight against Alvarez will be his first at 168 pounds.
“The Canelo vs. GGG trilogy is the biggest fight in boxing,” Hearn said in a statement. “These are two men that bitterly dislike each other and want to end this incredible series with a blistering KO.”
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.