Canelo moves up to fight Bivol for light heavyweight crown

Undisputed world super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez of Mexico will fight undefeated Russian Dmitry Bivol for his World Boxing Association light-heavyweight title on Saturday, 7 May. 

"It's happening! #CaneloBivol I will fight this upcoming May 7th against Dmitry Bivol," Alvarez confirmed via his official Twitter account.

Alvarez claimed the undisputed title in the 168-pound division last November by stopping American Caleb Plant in the 11th round, improving to 57-1 with two drawn and 39 knockouts with his eighth win in a row.

Now the 31-year-old Mexican icon will jump to the 175-pound division to take on 31-year-old Bivol, who is 19-0 with 11 knockouts.

It will be the Russian's fourth defense of the crown he received in 2019.

ESPN, citing unnamed sources, said Alvarez has signed a two-fight deal that would see him face Kazakhstan's Gennadiy Golovkin for the third time on September 17 at 168 pounds.

Golovkin, the International Boxing Federation middleweight (160-pound) champion, is 41-1-1 with 36 knockouts and has already fought to a draw with Alvarez in 2017 and lost to the Mexican star in 2018 by majority decision.

The report said Golovkin, 39, is finalizing terms on an April title unification fight in Japan against World Boxing Association champion Ryota Murata (16-2 with 13 knockouts) and only after a victory there would he fight Alvarez.

A third Alvarez-Golovkin bout figures to be a huge pay-per-view moneyspinner just as the prior two bouts were.