Canelo-Smith to take place at AT&T Stadium

8:40 AM ET

Canelo Alvarez’s fight with junior middleweight titleholder Liam Smith will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Golden Boy Promotions announced Monday.

Alvarez, the lineal middleweight world champion, is dropping down to junior middleweight, a division where he once unified two titles, to challenge Smith on Sept. 17 (9 p.m. ET, HBO PPV). The fight is on Mexican Independence Day weekend, a date important to Alvarez because it is typically a weekend with a big fight involving a Mexican star.

Alvarez-Smith will headline the third boxing card to be held at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. In 2010, Manny Pacquiao headlined there twice and won both fights by lopsided decision — a welterweight title defense against Joshua Clottey followed by his history-making victory against Antonio Margarito to win a world title in a record eighth weight division.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones have been talking about bringing an Alvarez fight to Arlington for several months, although most people want to see Alvarez face unified middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin.

But the 25-year-old Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs), Mexico’s most popular fighter, is a natural fit for AT&T Stadium because he has an enormous Hispanic fan base in Texas.

“Texas loves Canelo and …

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