So, at last, the dream is now boxing reality and that Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford superfight is confirmed for later in 2025.
For months now this incredible matchup has been spoken about, but until now it was just that – talk. That talk of course ramped up when Canelo signed a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season earlier in 2025, with the end game this year a meeting with Crawford.
Well on Saturday night/early Sunday morning in the desert they made it all official – complete with the first face-off in the ring after Canelo had again become undisputed world super-middleweight champion after easily outpointing Cuba’s William Scull in Saudi Arabia.
So the date is set, the weight is set, here is everything we know about what should be the fight of the year…
When is Canelo vs Crawford?
So we have a date change here, announced this week by Turki Alalshikh.
The big fight was initially set to take place on Friday September 12, 2025 – Mexican Independence Weekend and a date which Canelo has made his own. But now it has been moved to a day later on Saturday September 13.
We also have a venue change, after initial reports said it would take place at Allegiant Stadium – home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.
Now Alalshikh says a total of five different sites are in the running to host the bout – they are in New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Ring walks for Canelo Crawford are expected to take place around 11pm Eastern Time on Saturday September 12, which is 8pm local Pacific Time. If you are in the UK, those ring walks are around 4am on Sunday September 13, and it is 5am CET.
Live stream and TV channel
Finally we have CONFIRMATION of how you can watch live, and the great news is that the bout will stream live globally on Netflix – completely FREE for the 300million plus existing subscribers.
Weight limit and weights
This one will be for the undisputed super-middleweight championship of the world – Canelo is the WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring magazine champion and all of those belts will be on the line in Vegas on September 12.
Fighting at the super-middleweight limit (168lbs or 12st) is a massive step up for Crawford. Until last year he was a career welterweight, winning it all at 147lbs. But this represents a step up of THREE weight classes. He did though fight once at light-middle (154lbs) when outpointing Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles in August 2024.
Ring rust could be a factor here for ‘Bud’ as well, as it will be 13 months since his last bout when he does step into the ring with Canelo on September 12.
The odds: Who is favourite?
Canelo is the early favourite for this one – but he is not a heavy favourite, currently trading around the 1/2 mark.
Crawford is a 7/4 underdog with the Draw currently priced at 16/1.
Canelo Alvarez record
Canelo is 34 years old (born in Guadalajara, Mexico on July 18, 1990) and he will be 35 by the time he steps into the ring with Crawford. He has a stellar professional record of 63-2-2 – with the two defeats coming against Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather back in 2013, and then Dmitry Bivol in 2022.
His resume reads like a who’s who of top fighters during the last decade, he has ducked nobody (despite what some fans might say re David Benavidez). His most iconic moments may be that epic trilogy vs Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin. Well the first two fights were epic, at least.
Canelo’s real name by the way is Saul Alvarez – the ‘Canelo’ nickname translates to cinnamon in Spanish, and comes courtesy of his red hair.
Terence Crawford record
Crawford, known as ‘Bud’, is 37 years of age – having been born in Omaha, Nebraska on September 28, 1987. He has a perfect professional record of 41-0 with 31 of those wins coming by knockout.
Again, Crawford has a terrific resume, with the highlight being that demolition job of great welterweight rival Errol Spence Jr. ‘Bud’ claimed that July 2023 superfight in Las Vegas via a ninth-round KO, having had Errol on the floor in Rounds 2 and 7.
Canelo vs Crawford undercard
These Riyadh Season cards – bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (Chairman Turki Alalshikh) – are spectacular affairs and it’s likely this one will be no different. They do not stop at the main event, and we’ll provide further details once they are official.
