Canelo Alvarez Beats Christian Mbilli to Win Back the WBC Super-Middleweight Title in Riyadh

Canelo Alvarez is a world champion again. The 36-year-old Mexican beat Christian Mbilli by unanimous decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday night to regain the WBC super-middleweight championship, the Associated Press reported. The judges scored the fight 115-112, 116-111 and 117-110 for Alvarez.

It was Alvarez's first fight since he lost the undisputed super-middleweight championship to Terence Crawford in September 2025. He improved his record to 64-3-2 and handed Mbilli, the defending champion, the first defeat of his professional career. Mbilli fell to 29-1-1.

How the fight turned

Mbilli set the pace early. His pressure and work rate made the first half of the fight close, and he repeatedly pushed Alvarez back to the ropes, AP reported. Alvarez answered with body punches and counters, and the fight began to change in the sixth round, when he found room for a right uppercut and a straight right.

An uppercut marked a strong seventh round for Alvarez, and he followed it with combinations in the eighth. That round got harder for Mbilli when referee Hector Afu deducted a point from the champion for a punch to the back of Alvarez's head. Alvarez controlled the 10th round behind his jab. Mbilli kept working to the body and landed right hands in the final round, but Alvarez finished the stronger, wobbling Mbilli with a late right hand.

Alvarez said he followed the instructions of his trainer, Eddy Reynoso, to move, box and keep his jab working. "Do what Canelo do the best. And that's what I did," he said, according to AP.

"It's something unbelievable"

The win brought an emotional celebration. Alvarez embraced Eddy Reynoso in the ring and paid tribute to the trainer and to Chepo Reynoso, the two men he credited with shaping his career.

"Oh, it's so difficult to explain," Alvarez said. "It's something unbelievable."

"I'm so proud, so proud of my team," he added. He also thanked his family, and said his wife, who could not be in Riyadh, had told him not to come home without the championship. "I won the title," he said.

Asked what comes next, Alvarez made no promise about an opponent. "I'm gonna rest. I'm gonna keep learning. I'm gonna keep working hard," he said.

The title fight closed a nine-fight card billed as Mexico vs. The World. The event went ahead in a city that has come under Houthi drone and missile strikes from Yemen in recent weeks, USA Today reported, and one fighter, Lindolfo Delgado, withdrew from the card over security fears.

On the undercard

In the co-main event, Jaime Munguia retained his WBA super-middleweight championship with a unanimous decision over Nikita Zon. The judges scored it 117-111, 117-111 and 116-112. Munguia survived being hurt in the sixth round and improved his record to 47-2, AP reported.

Rafael Espinoza kept his WBO featherweight title when his fight with Ricardo Blandon was stopped at 1:22 of the third round. A straight right opened a cut above Blandon's left eye, and the referee stopped the fight on the ringside physician's recommendation. Espinoza improved to 29-0 with 25 knockouts.