Written by Canelo Alvarez
Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford has a new date and will soon have a new location announced as well.
Boxing promoter Turki Alalshikh revealed through The Ring magazine that the highly anticipated super middleweight title fight between Canelo and Crawford will no longer take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sept. 12 as originally announced. Instead, the event is now scheduled for Sept. 13 with a location to be determined.
Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and New York are the cities now in the running to host the event, which is part of Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season pay-per-view series. This will also be the inaugural event for Dana White’s TKO Boxing promotion.
Per ESPN, one reason for the venue change is due to UNLV’s college football team playing Idaho State at Allegiant Stadium on Sept. 13.
What makes the date change so intriguing is that Sept. 13 is also the date of UFC 320, which takes place in Guadalajara, Mexico (the card is also being promoted as the third UFC Noche event). While it’s possible Canelo vs. Crawford ends up taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which would likely mean an earlier start time in North America, should it take place in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or New York as suggested, it would run in direct competition with UFC 320.
Neither Alalshikh nor White have commented on the potential conflict.
On May 3, Canelo (63-2-2) defeated William Scull to once again become undisputed super middleweight champion, a title he only lost when he was forced to relinquish the IBF belt that was later claimed by Scull. The bout was widely panned for its lack of action and is on record as having the least punches thrown in a 12-round bout according to CompuBox states dating back to 1985.
Crawford (41-0) is moving up two divisions from super welterweight to face Canelo. In his most recent outing this past August, Crawford won a unanimous decision over a game Israil Madrimov to keep his undefeated record intact.