Canelo Alvarez plans next fight to be against Gennadiy Golovkin for third time instead of Dmitry Bivol rematch

Turns out, it's status quo for Canelo Alvarez despite an unexpected defeat against Dmitry Bivol. Boxing's top star indicated at the post-fight news conference that he would exercise his rematch clause for a return bout with Bivol in September, but on Monday, he reversed course.

«We already had that contract [with Gennadiy 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,» Alvarez said Monday at his golf invitational in Naucalpan, Mexico. «Unfortunately, we lost, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try again.

»The important thing here is perseverance and we're going to do it again. What is certain is that we are going to return in September. And in the coming days… we are going to announce the fight."

When Alvarez signed a multi-fight deal with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing in February, it included a Sept. 17 fight with GGG. Alvarez was a 4-1 favorite to defeat Bivol in a 175-pound title challenge, but he dropped a unanimous decision. The 31-year-old Mexican had 30 days to decide between two options on Sept. 17, sources tell ESPN: a rematch with Bivol or a third with Golovkin.

Now that Alvarez has made his choice, he'll return to 168 pounds, where he's the undisputed champion, and defend all four super middleweight titles vs. Golovkin on Mexican Independence Day weekend. The location hasn't been finalized, per sources, but the first two bouts took place in Las Vegas, and each generated over $20 million in gate receipts.

Even in the aftermath of the loss, Canelo-GGG 3 is perhaps the biggest commercial fight in all of boxing. The September 2017 clash for the unified middleweight championship ended