Canelo Alvarez will face WBA ‘Super’ Super Middleweight world champion Callum Smith in Texas on December 19 on DAZN.
Pound-for-pound star, Canelo said earlier on Tuesday that he was announcing his next fight at 11pm (GMT) and has opted to face the British WBA and Ring Magazine champion.
The four-weight world champion was set to face Smith’s British rival, WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders in May prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which preceded a lawsuit against his then-promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN, for breach of contract among other reasons.
The 30-year-old reached an agreement to end his contract with De La Hoya and Golden Boy on November 6, with his £360m deal with DAZN void after only three fights against Rocky Fielding, Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev.
However, Canelo returns to the streaming service to challenge unbeaten champion, Smith, with a crowd expected to be present in a venue to be decided in Texas, after a reported 10,000 fans watched Gervonta Davis’ stunning knockout of Leo Santa Cruz in Texas on October 31.
Canelo drops down from light heavyweight where he spectacularly knocked out Kovalev in the eleventh round last November to claim the WBO world title.
🇲🇽 Este 19 de diciembre será mi regreso al ring para enfrentarme a Callum Smith.
🇺🇸 I’ll be returning to the ring on December 19th to face Callum Smith. #TheP4PKingIsBack #CaneloSmith pic.twitter.com/HDJqK44JOF
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) November 17, 2020
Smith secured the WBA title after stopping George Groves in seven rounds in the final of the World Boxing Super Series in 2018.
The 30-year-old defended his crown with a third round demolition of Hassan N’Dam at Madison Square Garden on the undercard of Andy Ruiz Jr’s shock victory over Anthony Joshua last June before beating John Ryder by unanimous decision in his last fight, in November 2019.
