LAS VEGAS (AP) – The much-anticipated Sept. 16 middleweight title fight between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will take place on the Las Vegas Strip.
Promoter Oscar De La Hoya said Monday that the T-Mobile Arena on the Strip won out in bidding over AT&T Stadium in Texas. The fight will be televised on pay-per-view from the 20,000-seat facility that is also the home of the UFC.
Golovkin, the unbeaten knockout puncher from Kazakhstan, will defend his middleweight titles against Alvarez, the red-head who is the biggest boxing star in Mexico. Alvarez, whose only loss was at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr., is coming off a lopsided win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last month in Las Vegas.
“Everybody wants to go to Vegas, have a great time and watch a great fight,” De La Hoya said.
Golovkin (37-0, 33 knockouts) has been established as a 2-1 favorite over Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 knockouts) in a bout that was several years in the making. Alvarez is a former welterweight and super welterweight champion who moved up to a catch weight of 164 pounds for his fight against Chavez.