Canelo Alvarez forced to turn down world title fight due to setback after Terence Crawford loss

The Mexican star’s comeback has been delayed following a recent inquiry.

Terence Crawford’s retirement has left the super middleweight division wide open for someone to come and stamp their authority.

In September, he defeated Canelo Alvarez to become an undisputed champion in a third weight class before making the decision to step away with his undefeated 42-0 record.

Alvarez was hoping to pursue a rematch with Crawford before his latest opponent posted a statement on social media to call time on his career.

The next fight that would have made sense for the face of boxing has now also been ruled out.

Canelo Alvarez rules himself out of vacant title fight due to recovery from surgery

Before they’d met in the ring, a potential opponent had already emerged for the winner of Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The undefeated Osleys Iglesias won a title eliminator for the IBF super middleweight belt shortly before ‘Bud’ claimed undisputed status.

It was then reported earlier this week that the IBF had inquired about Alvarez and Iglesias’ availability to set up a vacant title fight following Crawford’s retirement.

Competing against Iglesias wouldn’t have been a blockbuster return for the Mexican star, but it would have allowed him to rebuild by picking up one of the belts that he recently lost.

However, many believed that this wouldn’t likely go ahead due to the elbow injury that Alvarez had surgery on following the third loss of his career.

This has now proven to be the case, with the 35-year-old declaring himself unavailable to fight for the vacant belt due to his recovery process.