Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin will meet on Sept. 15 for the rematch boxing fans have been waiting on for the past year, according to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya.
The two boxing titans will meet nearly one year after their first fight, which ended in a controversial draw — an underwhelming conclusion to the long-awaited blockbuster bout.
While the proposition of a rematch was floated immediately after the conclusion of that initial fight, a number of issues delayed the second meeting — most notably, Alvarez testing positive for a banned substance in March. Though Golovkin’s team agreed to push ahead with an initially scheduled rematch on May 5, despite the failed test, a complaint by the Nevada State Athletic Commission delayed things further.
Golovkin was outspoken about his opponent following the substance abuse issues.
“This is Canelo. This is his team. This is his promotion,” Golovkin told the Associated Press in March. “Canelo is cheating. They’re using these drugs, and everybody is just trying to pretend it’s not happening.”
With Alvarez officially withdrawing from the match in April, Golovkin went on to face Vanes Martirosyan in the scheduled May 5 bout instead, finishing with a second-round knockout.
That victory served as the 20th straight title defence for the Kazakh champion, whose record now stands at 38-0-1. Alvarez’s record currently sits at 49-1-2 ahead of the September rematch, which will take place at T-Mobile Arena, according to ESPN.
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