Saúl Alvarez

Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez is a Mexican professional boxer and four-division world champion who has held major titles from light-middleweight through light-heavyweight. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, on 18 July 1990, Álvarez began his professional career remarkably young, debuting in October 2005 at just 15 years old. His red hair inspired the nickname “Canelo”, derived from the Spanish word for cinnamon. Canelo developed from a Mexican prospect into a world champion after capturing the WBC light-middleweight championship in 2011. His rise eventually brought him into one of boxing's biggest events: a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September 2013, when Mayweather handed Álvarez his first professional defeat. Rather than halt his rise, the loss preceded Canelo's development into a multi-weight champion. He defeated Miguel Cotto for middleweight honours, won a world title at light-middleweight against Liam Smith and contested a celebrated trilogy with Gennadiy Golovkin. Their first fight ended in a draw in 2017 before Álvarez won both subsequent contests. Canelo continued moving through the divisions, defeating Rocky Fielding at super-middleweight before beating Sergey Kovalev in 2019 to capture the WBO light-heavyweight championship. He then returned to 168 pounds and began a campaign to unify the division. Victories over Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant culminated in Álvarez becoming the first undisputed super-middleweight champion of the four-belt era in November 2021. Álvarez returned to light-heavyweight in May 2022 to challenge Dmitry Bivol but suffered the second defeat of his career by unanimous decision. Back at super-middleweight, he defeated Golovkin for a third time before recording victories over John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, Jaime Munguía and Edgar Berlanga. In May 2025, Canelo defeated William Scull by unanimous decision in Riyadh, adding the IBF championship to his WBA, WBC and WBO belts and once again becoming undisputed at 168 pounds. Four months later, Terence Crawford moved up to super-middleweight and defeated Álvarez by unanimous decision at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The result left Canelo with a professional record of 63–3–2 with 39 stoppage victories. Canelo remains active at super-middleweight and is scheduled to challenge current WBC champion Christian Mbilli in Riyadh on 31 October 2026. That fight has not yet taken place and therefore is not included in his Boxing Ring News professional record. His Boxing Ring News profile documents more than two decades of professional boxing, including his complete fight history, championship contests and career across multiple weight divisions.