Former undisputed super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez will make his 2026 return in September in Saudi Arabia fighting Christian Mbilli for the full WBC world title.
At the David Benavidez-Zurdo Ramirez PPV in Las Vegs Saturday night, future hall of famer Canelo Alvarez was in attendance and confirmed that he and Christian Mbilli have finalized an agreement to meet in September in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The bout will be for the WBC super middleweight crown that Alvarez held up until Terence Crawford defeated him last September.
Alvarez, 63-3-2, 39 KOs, has been considered boxing’s biggest star over the last 10 years. However, he'll be entering the ring for the first time since Crawford upset him to in a 12 round decision. Crawford then retired and vacated the four supermiddleweight crowns.
Meanwhile, Canelo also had a wrist surgery that sidelined him for several months and add questions to, when he would be back and against what opponent?
Enter Mbilli, who is from Cameroon but fights out of Montreal, CA and actually fought a wild fight on the Canelo-Crawford undercard with Argentine Lester Martinez. Their thrilling 10 round battle ended in a split draw, widely regarded as one of the most exciting fights of the year.
Despite the draw, Mbilli, 29-0-1, 24 KOs, solidified his standing as a top contender and Alvarez wants to fulfill the third of his multi-fight deal with Turki Alashikh and the Saudi Entertainment Authority. So, that's why the bout will be in September in Riyadh.
Hear more on this news from insider Dan Rafael with me on the "Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast" by clicking play below,
Rafael reported on the podcast that the Canelo-Mbilli date will be Saturday, September 12th.
Alvarez previously fought in Saudi Arabia in May 2025, when he defeated William Scull in a horribly boring fight, where Scull danced, avoided and didn't punch Alvarez for almost all of the 12 rounds.
It's unclear if the Saudis and Canelo will agree to have the fight in the timing early Sunday a.m. in Riyadh, like they did for the Scull bout. That was for the audience in the Mountain and West time zones in the USA and Mexico (where most of Canelo's massive fan base is). So, they can see it in the evening that night.
Alvarez complained later that having the fight at 6 a.m. local time and having to adjust training, sleep and body clock was something that affected him and wouldn't likely do that, again.
The Riyadh event is expected to carry a “Mexico vs. the World” theme, with additional undercard bouts involving Mexican fighters to be announced later, according the Ring magazine.
At 35 years old and having had nearly 70 pro fights, Alvarez doesn't have too many more fights left. But, he is aiming to demonstrate that he can still hang at the top level of the sport.
For Mbilli, this fight represents a major leap forward. He's 31 years old and coming off the physically demanding bout against Martinez. This will obviously be the biggest stage he's ever been on and against his toughest challenge.