Following his loss to Terence Crawford in Sept. 2025, Canelo Alvarez is ready to mount his much-anticipated return to boxing. The Ring’s Mike Coppinger reveals that the former WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring Super Middleweight champion will face Christian Mbilli this September for WBC Super Middleweight title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Alvarez’s loss to Crawford via unanimous decision in Las Vegas, Nevada was just the third of his storied combat career — the other two came against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and
Dmitry Bivol — and snapped his six-fight win streak. Alvarez was hoping to secure a rematch against Crawford but “Bud” ultimately decided to retire as an undefeated (42-0), four-division champion. Now, Canelo has the chance to once again become champion with a win over Mbilli.
Speaking of which, the Cameroonian-French Canadian champion is currently undefeated at 29-0-1 and was elevated from interim title holder to WBC world super middleweight champion after the strap was stripped from the aforementioned Terence Crawford. Mbilli was ordered to fight against Hamzah Sheeraz — who also had his eye on a fight against Alvarez — though it ultimately fell through.
With 24 knockouts to his name, Mbilli has the chance to secure the biggest win of his pro career, which could set him up for bigger fights moving forward. At 35 years of age, however, Canelo is still fairly young and is determined to prove his naysayers that he has plenty to offer the fight game.
Early predictions?
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