Canelo Álvarez to face unbeaten champion in his ring return.
When his days as a professional boxer are over, Canelo Álvarez will be remembered as one of the greatest fighters of our generation.
A four-weight world champion who was once universally regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, he became one of the biggest pay-per-view attractions following the retirement of Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Canelo has a legacy that any aspiring boxer would be deemed to be dreaming too big to match the heights of, and with his long list of achievements, his status in the sport has been cemented forever.
And while it’s true that Canelo’s only career defeats have come to other generational greats, it is also true that fans have been noticing a decline in his in-ring ability.
Canelo has been fighting professionally since he was 15 years old, and he will be 36 this July. With that being said, it’s a wonder what the Mexican megastar has left to achieve.
Well, he seemingly would like to call himself a world champion once again, as it has been reported that he has agreed on a deal to fight the holder of one of his old belts.
Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs) has apparently agreed to fight Christian Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs), the reigning WBC super-middleweight champion.
Mbilli became the recipient of his world title upon Terence Crawford’s retirement, causing the undisputed championship he won in victory over Canelo to go four separate ways.
It was on the undercard of Canelo’s fight with Crawford that Mbilli rumbled with Lester Martínez, engaging in a fight that was agreed to be one of the best in all of 2025.
Mbilli is a hard-hitting French-Cameroonian who represents a hard fight back for Canelo, who will have been out for almost a year when the fight takes place.
Mbilli will truly test just how much Canelo has left. It will be a battle of experience against raw ferocity.
The fight is thought to be taking place on a Riyadh Season card in September, with it expected to be part of the discussed “Mexico vs. The World” event.
The undercard will be announced at a later time.
‼ BREAKING: Canelo Alvarez and Christian Mbilli have a done deal to fight in September in Riyadh for the WBC super middleweight championship, The Ring’s @MikeCoppinger has learned.
Canelo will attempt to regain a world title in his first fight since his loss to Terence… pic.twitter.com/GFagZYAIMF
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) April 30, 2026
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