Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez to fight Gennady Golovkin after dominating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Las Vegas

The Mexican middleweight won every round on all three judges' cards against his compatriot before announcing the match-up with Golovkin

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez will finally meet Gennady Golovkin later this year (Getty)

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez will finally meet Gennady Golovkin in this ring this September, announcing the hotly-anticipated match-up after dominating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Minutes after winning every round on all three judges' cards in a 12-round romp over Chavez, Alvarez invited Golovkin into the ring and announced a long-awaited clash for 16 September.

“GGG, you are next my friend. The fight is done,” Alvarez said as the crowd cheered. “I've never feared anyone, since I was 16 fighting as a professional.”

Alvarez used a punishing jab to take control early against Chavez in a matchup of former middleweight champions. The bigger Chavez (50-3-1, 32 KOs) started bleeding from the nose in the third round. His left eye swelled in the sixth and started to close a round later.

Alvarez was the quicker of the two men, leading 228-71 in punches landed and holding an 83-15 advantage in jabs landed.

“Tonight, I showed I could move, I could box,” Alvarez said. “I showed as a fighter I can do all things. I thought I was going to showcase myself as a fighter that could throw punches, but he just wouldn't do it.”

Alvarez's team was so confident of victory against Chavez, the deal with Golovkin was cut before the bout. “Do you think I lost focus?” Alvarez said. “I consider myself a person of strong mental strength.

“I feel very excited, right now is a different story,” Golovkin said. “In September, it will be a different style, a big drama show. I'm ready.”

The 31-year-old Chavez, son of iconic Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., was trying to revitalise a career derailed by positive drug tests, weight issues and lax training, but he proved no match for his compatriot.

Chavez avoided a $1 million-per-pound penalty when he weighed in at 164 pounds Friday, a half-pound below the bout catchweight and the lightest he had been since losing his middleweight title to Sergio Martinez in 2012.

The 26-year-old Alvarez also weighed in at 164, nine pounds heavier than he's ever fought. Alvarez, whose lone loss was to Floyd Mayweather Jr., got against the ropes several times and absorbed combinations from Chavez before quickly recovering with uppercuts.

Despite a four-inch height advantage and an obvious weight edge after he rehydrated, Chavez was overmatched in his first fight under iconic trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain.

Chavez's left eye was badly swollen in the post-fight press conference and he acknowledged he felt weaker having lost so much weight.

“If I would've attacked more I would've been countered by his punches. Nacho told me to do that but the strategy didn't work,” Chavez said. “I couldn't throw as many punches as I wanted. My father kept telling me to throw more punches from the ringside.”

AP