It’s a rematch: Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez set to fight Sept. 15 in Las Vegas

Canelo Alvarez and unbeaten middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin have agreed to a rematch bout Sept. 15 in Las Vegas.

“I’m happy to inform that we have a fight September 15!!!! #CaneloGGG2,” Oscar De La Hoya, Alvarez’s promoter, tweeted at just past 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

The agreement was struck hours after a noon deadline that Alvarez’s handlers had given Golovkin to accept their offer of 42.5% of the fight’s purse. Golovkin originally asked for half, then demanded 45%, but in the end settled for a little less than he wanted — and a little more than Alvarez wanted to give.

Tom Loeffler, Golovkin’s promoter, gave credit to Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions, which manages Alvarez, for coming up with a compromise.

“He came back with a solution that satisfied both sides,” Loeffler said. “Purse percentage was a main factor.”

The terms were not immediately revealed, but it’s safe to say the fight will be lucrative for both sides. Their first bout, which was judged a draw in September, generated a $27-million live gate at T-Mobile Arena and 1.3-million pay-per-view buys, with Alvarez taking home more than 60% of the purse.

Loeffler said that had the rematch not been made, Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 knockouts) was prepared to take a fight with World Boxing Organization middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders of England.

Golovkin, Loeffler said, “stuck to his principles. It wasn’t about money. We had the deal lined up with Saunders to unify the titles in the fall. Luckily, Golden Boy and Canelo accepted that.”

De La Hoya declined to discuss the rematch agreement beyond announcing it had been reached.

Golovkin and Alvarez were set to fight May 5 in Las Vegas until Alvarez was suspended for six months by the Nevada Athletic Commission after submitting two positive samples for the banned substance clenbuterol. The suspension runs through Aug. 17.

Golovkin was then stripped of his International Boxing Federation belt when he fought Vanes Martirosyan at StubHub Center on May 5 instead of taking a mandatory bout with Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Golovkin received $1 million for the Martirosyan fight, a fraction of what he would have earned against Alvarez.

“Everyone knows these guys clearly don’t like each other anymore,” Loeffler said. “Everyone knows there’s been a lot of controversy with Canelo’s suspension, and Gennady [being] left to scramble for a May 5 date. This has really turned into a far bigger promotion than the last time.”

Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) is a former two-division champion who might be boxing’s biggest draw.

“This is the fight Gennady wanted,” Loeffler said. “He’s wanted to get Canelo back in the ring since the first fight. … He felt he won the first fight, and he feels he can win the second fight.”

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UPDATES:

2:50 p.m.: This article has been updated with news that Gennady Golovkin accepted a deal for a rematch with Canelo Alvarez.

This article was originally published at 12:25 p.m.