Canelo Alvarez's time as the IBF middleweight champion is over without even making a single title defense.
In the ever-changing saga that is the search for Alvarez's next opponent, it is being reported that he has been stripped of the IBF title after negotiations with mandatory challenger quickly soured as a purse bid was looming. According to Mike Coppinger of The Athletic, talks fell through due to money and now Alvarez will need to find a new opponent.
BREAKING: Sources tell @TheAthleticBOX that negotiations between Canelo Alvarez and Sergey Derevyanchenko are now officially dead. Alvarez has been stripped of his IBF middleweight title after 3 p.m. ET deadline came and went. Sides couldn’t agree on money
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) August 1, 2019
As for the fate of the vacant title, Derevyanchenko and Gennadiy Golovkin, the next highest ranked available contender, would be ordered to fight by the governing body. Keith Idec reported that both sides have already reached a deal and could fight as soon as October, though a date or venue has yet to be cemented.
Now that Canelo-Derevyanchenko talks have broken down & Canelo will be stripped of the IBF middleweight title, a deal has been reached for Gennadiy Golovkin to fight Derevyanchenko for the IBF title. Fight could happen as soon as October 5th, but maybe moved to November.
— Keith Idec (@Idecboxing) August 1, 2019
Alvarez had been looking for an opponent for months after beating Daniel Jacobs in May to unify the WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight titles. First, Alvarez tried to negotiate a trilogy fight against Golovkin in September, but talks soured and both parties moved on. Then, Alvarez looked to secure a fight against WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev that would have Alvarez go up two weight classes, but differences in money also caused that fight to fall through with Kovalev going to fight Anthony Yarde later this month in Russia.
It was at that point that Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions announced that the planned fight date for Alvarez's return (September 14) was postponed as they continued searching for another opponent. During negotiations with other opponents, the IBF ordered Alvarez to face Derevyanchenko. The two sides eventually got to start negotiating, but that ultimately led to nothing being made.
Golovkin will now get the opportunity to regain the title he lost after also being stripped of the belt for not fighting Derevyanchenko. Golovkin was briefly negotiating with WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia but that also went nowhere.
Alvarez now only possesses just one middleweight belt from the four major sanctioning bodies. His WBC title reign ended in June when he was elevated to WBC Franchise champion and Jermall Charlo was elevated from interim titleholder to full champion. Alvarez has held the WBA title since last September when he defeated Golovkin last September in Las Vegas.
