Canelo Álvarez's Success and Achievements in Timeline

A success timeline featuring the most significant achievements of Canelo Álvarez.

Saúl 'Canelo' Álvarez is a highly accomplished Mexican professional boxer. He has achieved world championships across four weight divisions, ranging from light middleweight to light heavyweight, and has unified titles in three. Notably, in 2021, he made history as the first undisputed super middleweight champion and then became a two-time undisputed super middleweight champion in May 2025. He has also held The Ring magazine's super middleweight title since 2020.

Sections (3)

Full Timeline Career & Achievements Success & Recognition

2004: Silver Medal at Junior Mexican National Championships

In 2004, Álvarez won the silver medal at the Junior Mexican National Championships held in Sinaloa.

2005: Junior Mexican National Boxing Champion

In 2005, Álvarez became the Junior Mexican National Boxing Champion in Tuxtla Gutiérrez at the age of 15.

January 2006: Win Over Miguel Vázquez

On 20 January 2006, Álvarez secured a win over future IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vázquez in his hometown of Guadalajara, Jalisco.

March 2010: KO Victory Over Brian Camechis

On 6 March 2010, Álvarez achieved a crushing third-round KO over Brian Camechis in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas.

March 2011: WBC Light Middleweight Title Victory

On 5 March 2011, Álvarez defeated Matthew Hatton via unanimous decision for the vacant WBC light middleweight belt in a bout televised on HBO from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

June 2011: WBC Title Defense Against Ryan Rhodes

On 18 June 2011, Álvarez successfully defended his WBC title against Ryan Rhodes via TKO in the twelfth round in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

September 2011: WBC Title Defense Against Alfonso Gómez

On 17 September 2011, Álvarez successfully defended his WBC title against Alfonso Gómez at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, winning via TKO in the sixth round.

2011: WBC Light Middleweight Title

In 2011, at the age of 20, Álvarez became the youngest boxer to claim the World Boxing Council (WBC) light middleweight title.

2013: WBA and Ring Titles Victory

In 2013, Álvarez beat Austin Trout to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Unified version) and Ring titles.

May 2015: Álvarez defeats Kirkland via KO

On May 9, 2015, Álvarez defeated James Kirkland via third-round KO at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, live on HBO. The win set up a future mega PPV fight between Álvarez and Miguel Cotto. The fight drew high viewership on HBO.

November 2015: Álvarez wins WBC and Ring middleweight titles

On November 21, 2015, Canelo Álvarez won the WBC and Ring middleweight titles with a unanimous decision victory over Miguel Cotto at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The fight took place at a catchweight of 155 lbs at Cotto's request. Two months later, the WBC awarded Álvarez the WBC Diamond middleweight title.

May 2016: Álvarez defeats Amir Khan via KO

On May 7, 2016, Canelo Álvarez fought British boxer Amir Khan at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, for Álvarez's WBC and Ring middleweight titles. Álvarez won by a knockout in the sixth round. The fight generated a live gate of $7,417,350 from 13,072 tickets sold, and drew close to 600,000 PPV buys.

2016: WBC and Ring Middleweight Titles & WBO Title

In 2016, Álvarez defeated Miguel Cotto to win the WBC and Ring middleweight titles, and he also returned to light middleweight to beat Liam Smith for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title.

2018: Victory Over Gennady Golovkin

In 2018, Álvarez beat Gennady Golovkin in a rematch, becoming the WBA (Super version), WBC, and Ring middleweight champion.

November 7, 2019: Ranked as World's Best Boxer

From November 7, 2019, Álvarez was ranked by The Ring as the world's best boxer, pound for pound.

2019: Fighter of the Year

For his 2019 campaign, Álvarez was named fighter of the year by The Ring Magazine, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

2019: WBA Super Middleweight and IBF Middleweight Titles

In 2019, Álvarez beat Rocky Fielding for the WBA super middleweight title (Regular version) and won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight title from Daniel Jacobs. Later in 2019, Álvarez made his light heavyweight debut and knocked out Sergey Kovalev to claim the WBO title.

December 2020: Fight Against Callum Smith

In December 2020, Álvarez faced Callum Smith and won by unanimous decision, becoming a four-division world champion.

2020: Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Title

In 2020, Canelo Álvarez has also held the Ring magazine super middleweight title.

2021: Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion

In 2021, Álvarez became the first and only boxer in history to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.

2023: Forbes List of Highest-Paid Athletes

Álvarez made Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid athletes in 2023, also becoming the top-earning boxer with a reported $110 million.

September 14, 2024: Defense Against Edgar Berlanga

On September 14, 2024, Canelo Álvarez defended his WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles against Edgar Berlanga at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, winning by unanimous decision.