Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford Fight Date Officially Set After Intense Face Off

Canelo Álvarez didn't waste any time identifying his next opponent after securing a unanimous decision over William Scull on Saturday night.

Terence Crawford confronted the victor in the ring, and that brought the announcement he and Álvarez will face off on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas:

This battle is a long time coming given Crawford and Canelo's respective places within the sport. Bleacher Report's Lyle Fitzsimmons ranked them as the No. 3 and 6 pound-for-pound boxers in the world.

But fans were probably feeling a little fatigued when there were rumors of an agreement in February, only for Jake Paul to enter the frame. Then that fell through when Álvarez signed with Riyadh Season, which reopened an avenue for he and Crawford to cross paths in the fall.

After yet another comfortable victory for Canelo, ESPN's Andreas Hale argued the challenge can't come soon enough.

Per CompuBox, the once-again undisputed super middleweight champion landed just one more punch (56) than Scull but had a sizable edge in power punches (48 to 28).

It's one thing for Canelo to go the distance against Gennady Golovkin, even a version of Golovkin who was past his peak.

Starting with the win over John Ryder in May 2023, the 34-year-old has fought overmatched foes and coasted to wins, with viewers denied the satisfaction of a thrilling knockout. Hale suggested he has used this period of his career to "evade difficult challenges while depositing large checks."

Nobody can accuse Canelo of playing it safe with Crawford.

The Nebraska native is 41-0 with 31 knockouts as a pro. Even though he'll need to move up in weight for September's event, he'll pose an obvious danger to Álvarez.