Canelo Alvarez Announces Planned Return Date And New Promotion

Canelo Alvarez will indeed fight in 2026, just not any time soon. The Mexican boxing superstar confirmed he will return on a familiar date later in the year with a surprise twist.

Alvarez, 35, intends to return to the ring on Sept. 12 in the main event of a fight card billed 'Mexico against the World.' The fight card will be another Mexican Independence Day event and will officially launch Canelo Promotions, Turki Alalshikh announced on Thursday.

"Wait for us on the 12th of September," Alalshikh said. "Big, big, big fight. This will be the first card for Canelo Promotions. It will be named 'Mexico against the World.' All the fighters from the team of Canelo against the world. The champion in the main event for a world title. [His opponent] will be a surprise."

‼️ BREAKING: Canelo to return in September ‼️

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh announces that Canelo Alvarez will return on September 12th in a “Mexico against The World” card under his inaugural Canelo Promotions banner in Riyadh 👏 pic.twitter.com/d2objGc2yp
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) January 15, 2026

The event will be sponsored by Riyadh Season and held in Saudi Arabia.

Alvarez has fought in September to celebrate Mexican Independence Day in each of the last four years. As of 2026, he is arguably the most famous athlete from the country.

Alvarez maintained that he would return in 2026 despite retirement rumors after suffering his third professional loss to Terence Crawford in September 2025. Alalshikh's update follows that timeline, but the year-long layoff will be the longest of Alvarez's career since he took 12 months off between fights with Gennady Golovkin in September 2017 and 2018.

Canelo Alvarez to become latest fighter-promoter

The launch of Canelo Promotions is interesting, considering Alvarez is still under contract with Alalshikh's Riyadh Season. The two initially agreed to a four-fight deal in early 2025, with two fights remaining under that contract.

However, Riyadh Season is not an official boxing promotion, but instead keeps Alvarez connected to Alalshikh's business. Alvarez's first fight of his Riyadh Season contract was against William Scull, while his second was promoted by Zuffa Boxing's Dana White.

By starting his own promotion, Alvarez joins a long list of fighters who have turned to that direction late in their careers. His former promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, is the most prominent on the current scene, while several others have also pursued that path. Floyd Mayweather, Amir Khan, Manny Pacquiao, Devin Haney and Claressa Shields all own their own promotions, with the latter three still actively competing.

The "surprise" of Alvarez's next opponent could be a number of different fighters. Fans expected him to potentially move up to light heavyweight for his next fight, but Terence Crawford's retirement now leaves all the 168-pound belts back up for grabs.

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