Canelo fight in September scrapped

In a press release by Golden Boy Promotions today, both Golden Boy and Canelo Alvarez have made the strategic decision to postpone their typical scheduled September fight. The decision was made to secure the right opponent and to do justice to the level of promotion required for a boxing star of his magnitude. Though Canelo typically fights in May and September, it is not without precedent to fight later in the year as Canelo did fight in December of 2018 in Madison Square Garden. Canelo’s next fight will now take place later in 2019.

“As a Mexican, it’s a responsibility and an honor to represent my country in both May and September,” said Canelo Alvarez in the release. “Those are my dates. However, as a world champion in multiple weight classes, I also have the responsibility of delivering the most exciting and competitive fights possible. That’s why Golden Boy and my team have decided to postpone the date in order to do right by my fans by promoting the best fight possible and with the best opponent possible.”

This news comes as a shock since at one point the entire boxing community was looking like a possible opponent for Alvarez. Once talks broke down for the trilogy match with Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin, they began an exhaustive search for a replacement. The original name mentioned at first was Sergey Kovalev but rejected an offer he deemed low. Kovalev instead decided to take on his mandatory opponent in Anthony Yarde August 24 in his native Russia.

While Canelo isn’t fighting on September 14, this doesn’t necessarily mean that someone else won’t step up in its place. Speculation floating around boxing circles is that this will be an opportunity for someone else to fight on this coveted day. One name I’m suggesting to keep an eye out for is Jaime Muguna, who may take a fight date on this weekend and was one of the names rumored originally scheduled to take on Canelo.

Canelo also has a purse bid set up for him to face mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko next Tuesday that could be a formality before being stripped of the IBF belt from Jacobs in May.