Canelo Alvarez will move back down in weight for his next fight in a three-belt unification.
Alvarez, the unified WBA “Super” and WBC middleweight champion, will fight IBF champion Daniel Jacobs on May 4 in the main event of a boxing card streamed on DAZN. The fight has no venue announced but it is expected to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as the venue was already reserved for a DAZN card.
The fight will be the second bout in Alvarez’s 11-fight contract with DAZN and it will be Alvarez’s first as a middleweight on the streaming platform. Alvarez last fought at middleweight this past September when he defeated Gennady Golovkin to win the two middleweight titles. The fight headlined a pay-per-view event from the T-Mobile Arena.
After the fight against Golovkin, Alvarez signed a contract to fight exclusively on DAZN with the Mexican superstar set to make more than $300 million through the duration of the contract. Alvarez’s first fight under the new deal saw him go up in weight and defeat Rocky Fielding in quick fashion to win the WBA “Regular” super middleweight title on December 15. Although Alvarez was holding a title in two weight classes, he had always insisted on returning to middleweight for his next fight.
The only question regarding Alvarez’s next fight was his opponent. Golden Boy Promotions made a last second attempt to get Golovkin to sign up for the trilogy fight against Alvarez, but Golovkin has yet to sign a deal with any broadcast platform and is still boxing’s biggest free agent.
Jacobs won the IBF title this past October at Madison Square Garden when he defeated Sergiy Derevyanchenko. While a new mandatory challenger is being determined for Jacobs’ IBF title, he is eligible to freely pursue any fights he wishes and now will get a chance to hold three of the four world titles needed to become the undisputed middleweight champion. In addition to fighting Alvarez, Jacobs signed a three-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing USA and DAZN.
