Middleweight world champion Canelo Alvarez has a fracture in his right thumb, halting plans for a Dec. 10 fight.
Alvarez was injured in Saturday's 154-pound world title fight against Liam Smith. Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) scored a ninth-round TKO to win the WBO light middleweight title.
A doctor diagnosed Alvarez with an avulsion fracture of the right thumb sidelining him for the remainder of the year.
“Canelo does not need surgery and the prognosis is excellent,” Golden Boy spokesman Stefan Friedman spokesman wrote in a statement. “Canelo’s hand will be immobilized for the next six weeks, and he will be unable to fight again in 2016. This does nothing to Canelo’s plans to move up and take on the best in the middleweight division next year.”
Alvarez was set to return to the ring in December against an unnamed opponent.
Friedman says Alvarez most likely will fight again in early 2017 and that the timeline does not change plans for a potential fight with WBC, IBF, and IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in September 2017.
Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs), last fought on Sept. 10, scoring a fifth-round knockout of Kell Brook. He is set to fight again on Nov. 26.
- Scooby Axson
This article originally appeared on 
