Saul Alvarez vs Ryan Rhodes set for June 18th

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez won a vacant junior middleweight title against a fighter from England, and now he will look to claim another British victim in his first defense.

Alvarez, the 20-year-old with a rock star following in Mexico and a growing one in the United States, will make a mandatory defense in his home country June 18 against Ryan Rhodes, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com Friday.

Alvarez claimed a vacant 154-pound belt with a one-sided decision March 5 against Matthew Hatton -- younger brother of former junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton -- in Anaheim, Calif.

Schaefer said he had received a signed agreement from Rhodes' camp for the fight, which will take place either in Guadalajara, Alvarez's hometown, or outside of Mexico City.

"For me it is so huge, but for my Mexican people it's going to be even bigger," Alvarez said backstage at the weigh-in for Saturday night's Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena. "It was my dream to have my first defense in Mexico and now the dream is reality. I am very happy."

The bout will be televised as the main event of a "Boxing After Dark" card on HBO, a change from the original plan to have Alvarez headline an HBO PPV card.

"After seeing the ratings Canelo had, the highest ['Boxing After Dark'] ratings in like three years, they obviously are very interested to have Canelo back live on the network," Schaefer said of the new television arrangement. "To have Canelo live on HBO before he does his first pay-per-view is the right approach."

Showtime also expressed interest in the fight.

Featherweight contender Daniel Ponce De Leon of Mexico will open the HBO telecast, Schaefer said. Ponce De Leon (41-3, 34 KOs), a former junior featherweight titleholder, fought his last bout on the Alvarez-Hatton undercard, when he moved up to junior lightweight and lost a close, debatable decision to prospect Adrien Broner.

Ponce De Leon's opponent has not been signed yet. "We have two names we are talking about, so we are working on it," Schaefer said.

If Alvarez beats Rhodes, Schaefer said a deal is in place for him to headline an HBO PPV card on Sept. 17 -- Mexican Independence Day weekend -- against an opponent to be determined, although former titleholder Ricardo Mayorga, who lost a spirited fight to titleholder Miguel Cotto via 12th-round TKO because of a hand injury last month, has been mentioned.

Schaefer said he has two potential venues already on hold for the September fight: Staples Center in Los Angeles and the MGM Grand, where Schaefer is promoting the Morales-Maidana HBO PPV fight.

When Alvarez (36-0-1, 26 KOs), the 2010 ESPN.com prospect of the year, faced Hatton, he was fighting a smaller opponent who was moving up in weight, and one with fewer credentials. That is not the case with the 34-year-old Rhodes (45-4, 31 KOs).

Rhodes fought for a for a world title in 1997, losing a decision to Otis Grant for a middleweight belt. He has won 10 in a row since 2006, including the European title in a 2009 seventh-round knockout of Jamie Moore in an upset.

"Frankly, I was a little worried about this fight," Schaefer said. "I've had a lot of people telling me this is a very dangerous fight. I asked [Hall of Fame promoter and matchmaker] Don Chargin about it. He said it's definitely a big test, but he feels it is a test Canelo should be able to pass. I said I don't want to hear 'should be.' I want to hear 'will.' You never know. At this point Canelo needs to have these kinds of tests, and this will be the biggest test of his career."

Rhodes also has fought numerous middleweight and super middleweight fights and is widely regarded as a top-10 contender at junior middleweight.

"They criticize Canelo for fighting smaller guys like Jose Cotto or Matthew Hatton. Now he's actually fighting a bigger guy, a substantially bigger guy, because Ryan Rhodes has fought many middleweight fights," Schaefer said. "He's a big guy, he's a strong guy and it's a real, real test. I told Canelo this is a very tough guy and Canelo looked at me, flexed his muscles and said, 'So am I.' "

Said Alvarez: "I respect my opponent. He is a real opponent. He has fought at middleweight. He's a real, real challenger. I could do an optional defense, but I choose a real opponent. I just want to prove to the people and media that I am capable of dealing with those type of fighters."