Christian Mbilli fought in relative obscurity before landing a shot against the legendary Canelo Alvarez. They will fight Saturday, Oct. 31 for Mbilli’s WBC super middleweight title, and their paths have crossed before.
That intersection raises a reasonable question: Who is Christian Mbilli?
He is 29-0-1 with 24 knockouts, but more than his record.
On Sept. 13, 2025, Mbilli was featured in an undercard bout when Alvarez fought Terence Crawford in the main event at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Mbilli and Lester Martinez fought to an entertaining split draw and set up his fight against the legendary Mexican boxer.
Alvarez, 36, is trying to redeem himself after the loss to Crawford by unanimous decision. Mbilli, 31, is trying to validate himself as
a champion.
Mbilli was born to a 15-year-old mother in Cameroon. Boxing became his focus as his mother moved him to France. Later, Mbilli moved to Canada, where he started his pro boxing career in 2017.
The boxing world took notice in 2024 when Mbilli beat veteran Sergiy Derevyanchenchenko by unanimous decision. His name recognition spiked again in 2025 when he beat Maciej Sulecki for the WBC interim super middleweight belt. Then came the split draw against Martinez when Mbilli showed off his aggressive, heavy-hitting style.
These days, Mbilli has said, he’s been thinking not only about Alvarez, but also about his late mother.
"For many years I was telling my mother that I'm going to fight Canelo, I'm going to beat Canelo, I'm going to be world champion, and she was supporting me a lot," Mbilli told DAZN. "She said to me, you are able to beat Canelo, you have everything to beat this guy."
Canelo vs. Mbilli full card
- Canelo Alvarez vs. Christian Mbilli, for Mbilli's WBC super middleweight title
- Jaime Munguia vs. Nikita Zon, for Munguia's WBA super middleweight title
- Rafael Espinoza vs. Ricardo Blandon, for Espinoza's WBO featherweight title
- Raymond Rojas Garcia vs. Reito Tsutsumi, super featherweight
- Bek Nurmaganbet vs Marcos Vazquez Rodriguez, super middleweight
- Brayan Leon vs Hector Aguirre, super middleweight
- Emiliano Rojo vs Flavius Biea, middleweight
- Sultan Almohammed vs Erick Jahir Urvina Villegas, super featherweight
Canelo vs. Mbilli: How to watch
- Where: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Time: 1 p.m. ET main card starts.
- Pay-per-view: DAZN
- PPV fee: $79.99 (plus subscription)
Watch Canelo vs Mbilli with DAZN
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Christian Mbilli? Canelo Alvarez is about to find out
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