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The battle between undisputed champions Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo will take place Sept. 30 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Showtime pay-per-view.
The matchup will take place at 168 pounds, as Charlo will jump up two weight classes for the clash.
Charlo has exclusively competed as a super welterweight since 2011 and is the division’s current undisputed champion.
Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) is a former 154-pound champion who competed in the division from 2011 to 2016, and he’s since won titles at 160, 168, and 175 pounds and is currently the undisputed super middleweight champion.
Momentum was building for a potential pitting between the boxers while they were both fighting at 154 pounds years back with ties to Golden Boy Promotions, but a fight never materialized.
Now that it has, Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) – who stepped in to take the fight because brother Jermall was unavailable – shared that he was originally taken aback by the development.
“You know, truthfully, I didn’t think this fight would ever happen. But it presented itself, and I took it. It’s happening now. It’s never too late,” Charlo told BoxingScene.com in an interview.
“Canelo and my styles are completely different. He’s much shorter than me, but he’s a little bit thicker. It makes for a great fight.”
Although Charlo will have a four-inch height advantage and a 2 ½ inch reach advantage, Alvarez will be the naturally bigger man in the bout between 33-year-olds.
The Houston native Charlo has to now focus on bulking up amidst a near 15-month layoff while also recovering from a broken left hand.
“Man, I really don’t know that just yet [if I am a 168-pound fighter moving fighter]. 168 is considerably still kind of like not my weight division. It’s not as easy to make 168. I have to gain weight and gaining weight when you’re working really hard is really tough. I could easily walk around at 168. I’m definitely not the naturally bigger fighter. 168 is not my weight division.
“It’s tough [transforming the body.] It’s a task. It has to happen. Sometimes to make the best fights in boxing you have to take chances and risks.That’s just the nature of this game. We want to continue to put on for the sport, because fights like this make the sport of boxing very noticeable and top notch. We have to continue doing these things.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.