It’s Trilogy Time: Canelo Alvarez Skipping Dmitry Bivol Rematch To Fight Gennadiy Golovkin Next

Rejoice, boxing fans, you got it: a Canelo-GGG trilogy

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez said he’ll refuse to exercise his rematch option versus Dmitry Bivol — who schooled Alvarez in a light heavyweight title match earlier this month — and instead will fight two-belt middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin in September.

Alvarez, who scored a draw and a decision win against Golovkin in their first two fights, said Monday at his golf invitational in Naucalpan, Mexico: “We already had that contract [with Golovkin], that agreement, so we have to continue what we started, and I think those are the two biggest fights in boxing, the fight with Golovkin and the rematch with Bivol. Unfortunately, we lost, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try again.”

Canelo added that in “the coming days… we are going to announce the [Golovkin] fight.”

Alvarez will return to 168 pounds, where he’s the undisputed champ, and defend his four super middleweight titles against Golovkin on Mexican Independence Day weekend in mid-September. Although the venue hasn’t been announced, there’s a good chance the fight will land in Las Vegas, where the first two bouts took place and generated more than $24 million in gate receipts apiece.

Alvarez’s promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, told USA Today: “If he fights GGG, he’ll rematch Bivol straight after. I think a GGG fight is much bigger now than it was pre-Bivol because everyone just thought (Alvarez) was unbeatable. It’s a great fight. I’d love to do one more.”

Hearn said Alvarez’s revised boxing slate likely nixes plans for Alvarez to take a third fight this year — in December — since he would fight Bivol in 2023.

In their May 7 match, the bigger Bivol (20-0) dominated Alvarez and scored an unanimous decision win, 115-113 on all three scorecards at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to retain his World Boxing Association light-heavyweight 175-pounds belt.

Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KO) and Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KO) met twice for all the middleweight gold. The September 2017 bout ended in a controversial draw that most boxing pundits saw Golovkin as the victor. One year later, Alvarez beat Golovkin via majority decision. Both contests were brutal and dynamic, with the boxing world demanding a third fight for four years. Finally, the fight will happen.