Former undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will step back in the ring almost a year to the date after being dethroned.
Alvarez’s return on September 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was announced today by boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh and The Ring magazine, which is owned by Alalshikh.
“Big, big, big fight. And this will be the first card for Canelo Promotions. It will be name of ‘Mexico Against the World,’” Alalshikh said in a brief video. “All the fighters from the team of Canelo against the world, and the champion in the main event in world title, and it will be surprise in Saudi Arabia.”
Canelo, 63-3-2 (39 KOs), last fought on September 13, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada, dropping a unanimous decision and his four world titles to Terence Crawford, who has since retired and vacated those belts.
Canelo is presently ranked first by the WBC and WBO, second by the WBA and third by the IBF.
The 35-year-old had elbow surgery in October 2025. It was initially expected that he would not return until spring of 2026 at the earliest. He will be 36 by fight night, which is aligned with Canelo’s traditional mid-September date coinciding with the September 16 celebration of Mexican Independence Day.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
