Canelo Alvarez is a titan of boxing. With a career 61-2-2 record, accompanied by 39 KOs, Alvarez has won titles in four different divisions – super middleweight, junior middleweight, middleweight, light heavyweight – and has won four straight fights and 12 of his last 13. He is the super middleweight undisputed champion of the world.
Or at least he was.
As of Thursday, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) declared it will be stripping Alvarez of his 168-pound title in order to create an overdue title bout for No. 1 contender William Scull against No. 2 contender Vladimir Shiskin, according to reports. The match is expected to take place in Germany this September.
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Canelo Alvarez IBF title timeline
Alvarez had held the IBF super middleweight title since November 2021 when he defeated Caleb Plant with an 11th-round TKO. Alvarez made four defenses of his belt during his nearly three-year reign. The IBF has made a similar decision before.
In May, Oleksandr Usyk was stripped of his IBF heavyweight title after defeating Tyson Fury.
What other titles does Alvarez hold?
Alvarez was previously the undisputed super middleweight champion, meaning he held the super middleweight titles for the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO. Alvarez still holds all three other titles and will be putting all three on the line when he faces Edgar Berlanga on September 14 in Las Vegas.
How to watch Alvarez vs. Berlanga:
Date: September 14, 2024
Where: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV
Stream: Amazon Prime Video (pay-per-view), DAZN (pay-per-view)
Stream the fight: Catch Alvarez vs. Berlanga with Amazon Prime Video
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Canelo Alvarez to be stripped of IBF title ahead of Berlanga fight