Report: Canelo Álvarez, Terence Crawford Agree to Contract for September Boxing Fight

Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford have reached a tentative agreement for a September fight, according to The Ring's Keith Idec.

The two are expected to face off this fall in Las Vegas, with the venue and specific date still up in the air.

Crawford and Álvarez sit second and fifth respectively in ESPN.com's pound-for-pound rankings.

Boxing fans have long hoped this matchup would come to fruition. Some of the optimism steadily faded as Canelo selected a series of opponents who could charitably described as lackluster. Since winning a unanimous decision over Gennady Golovkin in September 2022, he has beaten John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, Jaime Munguía and Edgar Berlanga.

A narrative began to build that the 34-year-old was "ducking" a tougher challenge, with David Benavidez often cited as one such example.

But ESPN's Mike Coppinger first reported on Jan. 18 that negotiations between Álvarez and Crawford's camps were "in the red zone," a reference to the 20 yards before the end zone in football. The event is slated for the weekend of Mexican Independence Day to carry on Canelo's annual tradition of stepping into the ring around the holiday.

Per Idec, Álvarez is likely to fight May 3 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to keep himself sharp, and William Scull is one potential candidate for that slot. Scull is unbeaten with nine knockouts in 23 professional fights, most recently earning a unanimous decision over Vladimir Shishkin in October.

It's unclear whether Crawford would also schedule a tune-up ahead of a megafight with Canelo, though that seems a strong possibility.

The 37-year-old fought just once in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, so a yearlong layoff between his August win over Israil Madrimov and a date with Álvarez wouldn't be uncommon. For a headliner of this magnitude, he may prefer to avoid having any ring rust.