We now know when Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be back. We just don’t know who will be in the opposite corner.

There are some clues about what to expect when Alvarez returns to the ring in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on September 12, coinciding with Mexican Independence Day weekend. 

It will be a world title fight, according to Thursday’s announcement from Saudi financier Turki Alalshikh via The Ring magazine’s social media networks. But there was no mention of which belt, or even which weight class. 

After fighting primarily as a super middleweight for the entirety of this decade – and reigning as undisputed champion from his 2021 knockout of Caleb Plant until he lost a unanimous decision last September to Terence Crawford – perhaps the move is back down to middleweight, which he hasn’t made since his 2019 decision over Daniel Jacobs. Or maybe it will be a step back up to 175lbs, which he abandoned after his unanimous decision loss to Dmitry Bivol in 2022.

While we won’t know until we know, here are a few candidates that make sense for Alvarez’s next fight.

Hamzah Sheeraz

If Canelo is staying at 168lbs, Sheeraz would figure to be a top pick for his next opponent. 

Sheeraz, 22-0-1 (18 KOs), is rated in the top five of all four major sanctioning bodies, so it won’t be difficult making this a world title fight, if one is available. Sheeraz is also a personal favorite of Alalshikh, which can’t hurt him when it comes to getting on a Saudi Arabia card. The 26-year-old Sheeraz of the United Kingdom showed that he was a much stronger fighter at 168lbs than at 160, knocking out Edgar Berlanga in five rounds in his most recent outing in July. At 6’3” and with youth on his side, he’d be a handful against Alvarez.

Osleys Iglesias

This one is a bit of a dark horse pick, because it doesn’t seem anyone is excited to jump in with Osleys Iglesias at the moment. 

Iglesias, the No. 1-rated contender with the IBF at 168lbs, has had numerous opponents turn him down for a vacant title fight. The 28-year-old Cuban exile, who is signed with Canada’s Eye of the Tiger Management, has looked devastating in recent fights but showed some vulnerability in his last outing, an eighth-round stoppage of Vladimir Shishkin in September. The 28-year-old southpaw boxer-puncher has dynamite in his hands, but, at 14-0 (13 KOs), has relatively little experience at the world-class level.

Who knows: Maybe the reason Alvarez’s opponent hasn’t been named yet is because the fighter doesn’t yet have his title?

Christian Mbilli

Keeping the search to Quebec, Mbilli would be a plausible pick. Unbeaten at 29-0-1 (24 KOs), the French Olympian is also signed to Eye of the Tiger Management and has a bit of a higher profile, plus the WBC interim title at 168lbs. The 30-year-old is coming off his biggest fight to date, a thrilling brawl with Lester Martinez on the Alvarez-Crawford card which was short-listed for Fight of the Year considerations among many outlets. At just 5’8” and with an all-out aggressive style, Mbilli would make sense from a stylistic point of view for Alvarez, who has never been the biggest super middleweight. 

Carlos Adames

Who said the title fight had to be at super middleweight?

If Canelo is looking for a world title fight in his next outing, Adames would be a good pick for a fight at middleweight. The WBC titleholder at 160lbs has an exciting, aggressive style with just enough finesse to make him dangerous at the world level. The 31-year-old Dominican fighter already has a spot on an upcoming Riyadh Season card when he defends his title for the third time against Austin “Ammo” Williams on January 31 at Madison Square Garden. The 5’11” fighter with a record of 24-1-1 (18 KOs), hasn’t fought since February of 2025, when many felt he was unlucky to walk away with just a draw against Sheeraz. Adames certainly isn’t a fighter to sleep on.

David Benavidez

Hey, we can dream, right?

There aren’t many fights that people want to see for Alvarez that haven’t happened yet, but Benavidez is one of them. If Alvarez is looking up the scales, then the 29-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona, would figure to be a fight that people would want to see happen. Benavidez, 31-0 (25 KOs), has brought his nonstop punching and aggression up with him to light heavyweight, scooping up the WBA and WBC titles at 175lbs, and looked devastating in his seventh-round demolition job of Anthony Yarde in November in Riyadh. Could Alvarez’s sharp counter-punching be the secret to cracking the Benavidez code? Maybe one day we’ll find out.

Jose Armando Resendiz

Rounding out the list of possibilities is Resendiz, a fighter who has overachieved thanks in large part to his huge heart and willingness to just jump into an opponent’s chest. The 26-year-old from Guayabitos, Mexico, was seen as a tune-up opponent for Caleb Plant. But he swarmed the more experienced Plant to win an upset split decision last May. On a card that will have a theme of "Mexico Against the World,” what better way to celebrate Mexico’s rich boxing history than with an all-Mexico main event? The 16-2 (11 KOs) Resendiz has the WBA belt at 168lbs, which would fulfill the prerequisite for a title fight, and has a style that would complement Alvarez’s counter-punching, so maybe Resendiz gets the call to travel to Saudi Arabia.

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.