Terence Crawford stepped up two weight classes and itoutclassed Canelo Alvarez in September to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.

Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) had a hard time keeping Crawford off him and lost a clear unanimous decision in Las Vegas.

Five months have passed since Alvarez's off night, and after undergoing elbow surgery and taking extended time off to recover from injuries and overall wear and tear across his aging body, the Mexican superstar is ready to return on September 12 in Saudi Arabia.

But it won't be against Crawford. 

Alvarez is adamant that a rematch should have taken place against Crawford, but the 38-year-old Nebraska native retired in December and has no intent to lace up the gloves again, no matter how prolific a purse may be. 

"Of course [I was upset he retired before we could have a rematch]," Alvarez told The Ring’s Rick Reeno on the "Mr. Verzace Podcast."

"I always give him all the credit, but we need to run it back. After the fight I told him we need to because I didn't feel the way I really wanted. I need to make this fight happen again. It's going to be different. I think for him to deserve all of the credit, he needs to give me a rematch, obviously. The rematch would have been perfect for boxing. But he decided to retire, we need to accept that and move forward. Now I get to do the fights I want."

Alvarez also elaborated on why he wasn't operating at the peak of his powers against Crawford. 

"A lot of things [went wrong]. My body didn't respond the way I really wanted," he said. "I wanted to move faster, and this and that, and I didn't recuperate the way that I needed. My legs felt a little bit tired, too. But Crawford deserves all the credit. He had a better strategy than me. But, I think I did well, even when my body wasn't feeling well.

"Eddy Reynoso was telling me everything I needed to do, and I tried. But my body wasn't responding. I had cramps in my legs. I know what mistakes I made in the fight and in the training camp. In boxing, being a winner doesn't mean you need to win every time. You need to take the losses and learn from them and move forward."

Alvarez, a two-time undisputed king at 168 pounds, intends to fight for a world title again. 

During The Ring Awards last month, Alvarez posed with recently elevated WBC champion Christian Mbilli, along with Turki Alalshikh. Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) is a Cameroonian-French Canadian fighter and would be a proper opponent for Alvarez’s September return in an event being billed as "Mexico Against the World."

Mbilli was featured on the Canelo-Crawford undercard, enduring a hard-fought firefight and 10-round split draw with Lester Martinez. 

"Canelo is getting old. It's a good time for me to fight him," Mbilli told The Ring after the Crawford fight. "Let's do it. We will see. Of course I will put on a big show. I will be there to win. It will be a big war. I don't know if he can take my pressure and punches. I throw a lot of punches with a lot of energy. I don't know if he can take it. I think I have a good chance to win."

Alvarez, a former four-division champion and professional of 21 years, will be 36 heading into his 69th fight and with 532 rounds under his belt the next time he enters the ring.

He's The Ring’s No. 1 contender at 168 pounds and was dropped out of the pound-for-pound rankings for the first time since the spring of 2013 shortly after losing to Crawford.