Canelo Alvarez is reportedly being stripped of one super middleweight crown as he prepares to defend his three others against Edgar Berlanga on September 14 in Las Vegas.
Alvarez’s mandatory IBF title defense against that governing body’s No. 1 contender, William Scull, is overdue, ESPN reports.
The IBF will reportedly order a fight between Scull and Vladimir Shiskin.
‘Once we officially notify the involved parties we will issue a statement,’ IBF president Daryl Peoples told ESPN.
The unified champion (61-2-2, 39 KOs) will put the WBC, WBA and WBO versions of the 168-pound title on the line in the bout at T-Mobile Arena, which will be available by pay-per-view on Prime Video.
Canelo Alvarez is reportedly being stripped of his IBF super middleweight crown
Berlanga stares down Jason Quigley in an action packed super-middleweight fight on June 24
The Mexican superstar has had a number of his biggest bouts around his country’s holiday, including all three of his fights against Gennady Golovkin.
Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) won his first 16 pro fights by first-round knockout, though hadn’t shown the same explosive power since moving up in weight until stopping Padraig McCrory in February in his most recent bout.
The New York native who represents Puerto Rico is ranked No. 1 by the WBA at 168 pounds.
Erislandy Lara will defend his WBA middleweight title against Danny Garcia, a former champion at 140 and 147 pounds, in the co-main event.
The Berlanga fight comes after Alvarez’s failure – or reluctance – to strike a deal with contender David Benavidez, who has since moved up to light heavyweight with a win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk earlier this month.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez from Guadalajara, Mexico is seen before his match with Jaime Munguia
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) continues to hold out hope for a battle with Alvarez.
‘That’d be a big fight,’ said Benavidez on July 15, adding that needs to take some time off for his hand to heal. ‘Now I´m at 175 these are some big boys, I´m looking forward to what´s next in the division. I still can make 168, I have a lot to prove.
‘If I can go down to 168, there are big fights at 168. I want the opportunity … if it´s Canelo or whoever, I want the opportunity to be a four-time world champion.’
Alvarez is coming off a ho-hum win, overcoming a somewhat slow start to dominate and hand Jaime Munguia (43-1) his first loss on May 5.
The champ took full control after knocking down Munguia in the fourth round before the announced crowd of 17,492, which was fairly evenly split between the two competitors.
This marked the second straight time that Alvarez left no doubt who was the better fighter and showing why, even at 34, he remains one of the sport’s all-time greats. Alvarez also had his way with Jermell Charlo in September to win by even wider margins.
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