Canelo Álvarez to face Terence Crawford in Netflix-streamed Las Vegas megafight

The Guardian

a day ago

Boxing's most eagerly anticipated fight in years, the long-rumored showdown between Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford, will take place on 13 September in Las Vegas and stream globally on Netflix, organizers confirmed on Tuesday.
The summit meeting will match two of the most accomplished pound-for-pound fighters of the past decade in a cross-divisional clash with generational implications. Álvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion who's held titles between 154lb and 175lb, will defend his crown against Crawford, the unbeaten four-weight titleholder from 135lb through 154lb moving up two weight classes to challenge the Mexican superstar in what has already been billed as the 'fight of the century'.
The venue has yet to be finalized, though Allegiant Stadium, the 71,835-seat home of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders, is understood to be the top choice. The date currently conflicts with a scheduled UNLV football game against Idaho State, but sources familiar with discussions say talks are under way to move the college game to a different site or reschedule it entirely. T-Mobile Arena, where Álvarez headlined some of his biggest nights and where Crawford blew out Errol Spence Jr in a welterweight title unification bout in 2023, remains a fallback option.
The bout will be promoted by Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Season in collaboration with Ultimate Fighting Championship president and Donald Trump confidant Dana White and the Saudi entertainment company Sela. It marks White's first foray into boxing and signals a further deepening of the Kingdom's influence over the sport's biggest nights.
'On 13 September, Canelo and Crawford, two legends of boxing, will finally compete against each other in the fight of the century,' said Turki al-Sheikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and president of the Saudi Boxing Federation. 'Alongside Dana White and Sela, we will deliver something truly incredible in Las Vegas for fans around the world to enjoy through Netflix.'
Crawford, 41-0 with 31 knockouts, has already become the first male fighter to claim undisputed championships in two weight classes in the four-belt era, doing so at 140lb and 147lb. In his last outing in August, the Omaha, Nebraska, native defeated Israil Madrimov to capture the WBA junior middleweight title, making Tuesday's confirmation all the more remarkable: he will now jump directly to 168lbs to face Álvarez without a tune-up.
'My perfect record speaks for itself,' Crawford said. 'I am the best fighter in the world and no matter the opponent or weight class, I have always come out on top. On September 13, my hand will be raised once again as the world watches greatness.'
Álvarez, 62-2-2 with 39 knockouts, is coming off a dominant yet pedestrian unanimous decision over William Scull in May, a fight staged in Riyadh as part of his reported $400m four-fight deal with the Saudi-backed Riyadh Season. That agreement allowed for one bout to be staged outside the Kingdom, and Álvarez has opted to return to Las Vegas, where his fanbase traditionally turns out in droves.
'I'm super happy to be making history again and this time on a Riyadh Season card that will be broadcast on Netflix,' said Álvarez, who has won six straight since a surprise defeat in a doomed challenge for Dmitry Bivol's light heavyweight title in 2022. 'On September 13, I'm ready to show once again that I am the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.'
Both men attended the Scull fight, where the bout was publicly teased in the ring. Despite questions over their respective ages – Álvarez turns 35 next month, Crawford will be 38 in September – each remains among the sport's elite talents and a longtime fixture on pound-for-pound lists.
The announcement represents a potentially transformative moment for boxing's broadcast future. Rather than being offered via traditional pay-per-view, the event will stream to Netflix's 300m subscribers at no additional cost, echoing the kind of mass accessibility the sport once enjoyed in its network television heyday. Executives are hoping it becomes a landmark moment akin to the Mike Tyson–Jake Paul spectacle Netflix carried in November, which preceded the streamer's record-smashing broadcast of the NFL's Christmas Day twin bill and Beyoncé Bowl half-time show. For fans long frustrated by the fragmentation and paywalling of boxing's top events, the move could mark a new chapter in accessibility.
'Turki wants to make the biggest fights that the fans want to see in boxing, and this is right up my alley,' said White, who is launching his own TKO boxing imprint under the UFC's Endeavor umbrella. 'Are you kidding me that the first boxing fight I'm going to get to promote is Canelo v Crawford? It's literally a once-in-a-lifetime fight.'
A three-city press tour has been planned for later this month to drum up interest in an event that's certain to attract broad public attention. The fighters will meet in Riyadh on 20 June, then travel to New York on 22 June before wrapping up in Las Vegas on 27 June.
While both fighters have shown flashes of mortality in recent performances – Álvarez cruised but looked flat in his decision win over Scull, while Crawford had to rally late to edge Madrimov – the significance of their matchup remains undiminished. A win for Álvarez would further cement his legacy as the face of this boxing era. A victory for Crawford would put him in rarefied historical company, while arguably establishing him as the most versatile boxer of the modern era.
The dream matchup has drawn comparisons to the 1987 superfight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler, when Leonard emerged from a three-year retirement to outpoint the fearsome middleweight champion in a tightly contested split decision at Caesars Palace. Like Leonard, Crawford is the smaller, faster fighter taking a calculated risk against a dominant champion in a higher weight class – and, like that fabled night in Las Vegas, the outcome could reshape pound-for-pound conversations for years to come.