Updated 15 May 2025
Canelo Alvarez V Terence Crawford will now take place Saturday, Sept. 13 rather than the day before.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez puts all four super-middleweight titles on the line against undefeated Terence “Bud” Crawford at Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, on 12 September 2025. The bout matches two of boxing’s top pound-for-pound fighters in a rare undisputed-versus-undefeated encounter.
Canelo V Crawford – The Details
Turki Al-alshikh revealed the blockbuster immediately after Alvarez’s win over William Scull, confirming date, location and that Canelo’s WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF belts will be at stake. Allegiant Stadium, capacity 65,000, is expected to sell out within days as two global icons meet at a 168 lb catch point where Crawford jumps two divisions from his August 2024 win at 154 lbs.
The Weight classes
Canelo campaigns at super-middleweight (168 lbs). Crawford’s most recent outing was at 154 lbs, and he has competed as light as 135 lbs; the September clash will therefore be the heaviest weigh-in of Bud’s career.
Promoters have also confirmed that the fight will not include a rehydration clause, unlike the limit imposed on Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn, so both men may refuel freely after the official scales.
Styles & keys to victory for Canelo & Crawford
- Canelo Alvarez: Compact guard, counter-punching and vicious body work that banked late rounds versus Scull. Canelo also dominates the 168 lbs weight class.
- Terence Crawford: Switch-hitting, surgical timing and the 75 inch reach give’s Bud opportunities to score at range before angling out.
Expert reaction
Hall-of-Fame trainer Freddie Roach called the matchup “the biggest since Mayweather-Pacquiao” while Andre Ward noted Crawford’s “elite foot feints” as the X-factor against Canelo’s mid-ring pressure.
Personally I still see the weight class as the biggest factor in this fight.
What’s next for the winner?
Victory positions the champion for either a lucrative rematch, a Bivol light-heavy revenge bid for Canelo, or Crawford cementing legacy across four weight classes – an unprecedented feat in modern boxing.
Making History for Mens Boxing
The most recent men’s bout in which an undisputed champion put every belt on the line against an undefeated challenger who was also ranked in The Ring’s pound-for-pound top ten came nearly two decades ago:
Bernard Hopkins (Undisputed MW champion, Ring #1 P4P) vs Jermain Taylor (23-0, Ring #9 P4P)
Date: 16 July 2005
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
Result: Taylor won a split decision to end Hopkins’ record-setting middleweight reign.
Since then, we’ve had a handful of undisputed-versus-undefeated match-ups – Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall (2022) on the men’s side and Shields v Marshall (2022) on the women’s – but in those cases the challenger was not regarded as a pound-for-pound elite beforehand. That makes Hopkins-Taylor in 2005 the last truly comparable precedent to the Canelo-Crawford showdown.