Canelo Alvarez confirms Callum Smith as next opponent as all-time great returns in December

CANELO ALVAREZ has confirmed his next fight will be against Brit Callum Smith on December 19.

The Mexican superstar will return to the ring as a free agent having terminated his contract with DAZN and Golden Boy Promotions.

And he has chosen Liverpool brawler Smith to make his return.

Canelo, 30, made the announcement on Instagram after telling fans he had big news to share on Tuesday evening in a teaser tweet.

Canelo has not fought since moving up to light-heavyweight in November last year to KO Sergey Kovalev for the WBO belt he later vacated.

But the frustrated fighter has spent this year on the sidelines having failed to find an opponent due to the coronavirus pandemic.

And streaming service DAZN – who Canelo signed a £278 deal with in 2018 – would not approve proposed fights put forward by the 30-year-old.

As a result, he terminated his partnership with the platform and promoter Oscar De La Hoya.

Canelo, as a free agent, searched for an opponent  and appeared to commit to super-middleweight, where he was mean to fight Billy Joe Saunder this summer.

Caleb Plant and John Ryder were also considered but Smith has secured a huge bout.