By Ryan Maquiñana

Sources close to the situation tell BoxingScene.com that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s rumored third defense of his WBC junior middleweight title against Kermit Cintron will be signed by Monday morning.

The 21-year-old Alvarez (38-0-1, 28 KOs), from Guadalajara, Mexico, will meet Cintron sometime in November or December, with Mexico the scheduled destination.

Just two weeks ago in Los Angeles, the precocious Alvarez stopped Alfonso Gomez on the “Star Power” HBO pay-per-view card in the sixth round of a fight where “Canelo” was well ahead, but was probably halted prematurely by referee Wayne Hedgpeth.

Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Cintron (33-4-1, 28 KOs), from Houston via Carolino, Puerto Rico, was all but banished from premium cable after a listless performance against Carlos Molina in July where he lost a virtual shutout.

Since then, the former two-time welterweight titlist etched out a unanimous decision victory over Antwone Smith in August on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights.

Cintron was released from his contract with Top Rank last week and will probably sign with Golden Boy to make the fight happen.

Ryan Maquiñana is the boxing correspondent at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.  He’s a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Advisory Panel.  E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com , check out his blog at www.maqdown.com or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.