Canelo Alvarez next fight date and location confirmed after crushing Terence Crawford defeat

Canelo Alvarez is set to return to the ring on September 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for his usual Mexican Independence Weekend date.

Against whom we do not know, although Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh insists it will be a world title fight.

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The belt and division remain a mystery at this time.

Alvarez could opt to compete for one of the super middleweight straps he dropped to Terence Crawford last September.

All four belts have fragmented following ‘Bud’s’ retirement, with only the WBA opting to upgrade their highest rated contender, Jose Armando Resendiz, to full champion.

The WBC, IBF and WBO have all chosen to order vacant world title fights.

The IBF initially attempted to match Alvarez against Osleys Iglesias for their belt.

However, Alvarez rejected the opportunity as he continues to recover from arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow.

Jaime Munguia also passed up on the bout, leaving Pavel Silyagin as the most likely option.

Alvarez could theoretically circle back and go down the IBF route in September against whoever emerges victorious, though that seems unlikely given the name value on offer.

Elsewhere, Hamzah Sheeraz will have to choose between competing for the WBO title against Diego Pacheco or the WBC belt against Christian Mbilli after being ordered by both sanctioning bodies.

Who are the frontrunners to box Canelo Alvarez next?

Sheeraz had been floated around as a potential opponent for Alvarez for his third fight with Riyadh Season when he signed the money-spinning deal in February last year, and seems to be the frontrunner at this stage providing he gets his hands on either belt.

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Another potential option for Alvarez is a rematch with WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol.

Bivol outclassed Alvarez in May 2022 when the former pound-for-pound king attempted to become a two-time 175lbs champion.

Like Sheeraz, he was initially mentioned in Alvarez’s four-fight Riyadh Season plan, while the 35-year-old has been chomping at the bit to avenge the defeat for the best part of four years.

Speaking in April, he said of the fight: “I hope I get the opportunity to have that rematch with Bivol.

“That’s the only fight in 175 I’d really take. But we’ll see.

When asked whether that defeat still bothers him, Alvarez added: “Not bother me. But I want to tell myself, hey, you learned something from that fight.

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“What things you don’t need to do again. And I have that thing in myself, ‘Hey, you need to show you’re a better fighter than him.’

“I was on 50% of my abilities right there. No condition, nothing, because I couldn’t run, throw like I do pads and sparring.

“You can ask Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he was there to help me for that fight, and I had like one month no sparring because of my hand.”