Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo

• Date: Sunday October 1  – 04.00 BST
• Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
• Super-middleweight title fight: Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo

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Alvarez vs Charlo: Undisputed vs Undisputed

Alvarez is arguably the biggest current star in boxing. The Mexican returns to the ring on September 30 to defend his world super-middleweight titles against Charlo. Initially Canelo was tipped to meet Charlo’s twin brother Jermall, the WBC middleweight champion. However, it is the Iron Man who will take on Canelo, and he will be stepping up two weight classes to do so.  Charlo holds the WBO, IBF, WBA and WBC light-middleweight belts, leading to the clash to be billed as Undisputed vs Undisputed.

Tale of the tape: Alvarez vs.Charlo

Charlo has an extremely good record, but stepping up a couple of weight divisions and going in against an all-time great is a tough task. Alvarez has won a string of world titles across a range of categories and is rated as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Here are the key stats:

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez

Alvarez has won multiple world championships in four weight categories from light middleweight to light heavyweight. He is the first and only boxer in the history of the sport  to become undisputed champion at super middleweight, having held the WBA (Super), WBC and Ring magazine titles since 2020, and the IBF and WBO titles since 2021.

Alvarez suffered a setback in May 2022 when he stepped up to light heavyweight to challenge for the WBA light-heavyweight title and lost to Dmitry Bivol. However, since then he has got back into the groove at super middleweight with wins over Gennady Golovkin in September 2022 and John Ryder on May 6 this year. His only previous professional loss was to the great Floyd Mayweather Jnr at light middleweight in September 2013.

The win over Ryder was achieved in convincing style, with Canelo winning on a unanimous decision. It was only the determination of the Briton that ensured the fight went the distance. Canelo knocked his opponent down in the fifth and after Ryder had shown huge character to make it to the final bell, the judges had an easy decision to make.

Jermell Charlo

Charlo’s last bout was in May 2022, in a rematch with Brian Castano,so there could be a degree of rustiness for the Iron Man  to contend with. Charlo and Castano fought in July 2021 and a draw saw both men retain their titles. However, Charlo took the win the following year to become the undisputed champion. 

Charlo was scheduled to make the first defence of his undisputed titles against WBO No. 1 contender Tim Tszyu on January 28, 2023, however, a hand injury sustained by Charlo when sparring saw the bout postponed twice. Charlo has since been ordered to defend his championship against Tszyu before 30th of September 2023. Therefore his decision to fight Castano instead will lead to him being stripped of the WBO the moment he enters the ring.

Charlo’s only professional defeat came against Tony Harrison, but since then he has gone five undefeated, with four of them ending with a knockout by the American. Canelo has never lost via a knockout so the scene is set for a fantastic bout in Vegas.

Prediction

Alvarez, a legend of the sport, and a man more than capable of performing at a range of weight categories goes into the fight as the bookies’ favourite. The Mexican is near the top of most pundits’ pound to pound ranking list of active boxers. Charlo is also, clearly, a class act, however, stepping up two weight categories is a tough ask. It should, however, be noted that the American has a height and reach advantage, only has one defeat as a professional and has won four of his last five with knockouts. It won’t be easy, but it should be a win for Alvarez. It could well go the distance though.

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