Canelo Alvarez will return to the ring this weekend, challenging Christian Mbilli for the WBC super-middleweight title in Riyadh.
Although the Saudi city has been the target of deadly attacks in recent weeks, Canelo has arrived ahead of his first fight in 13 months, after he was outpointed by fellow great Terence Crawford in Las Vegas.
Against Mbilli, the 36-year-old Canelo faces a stern task; the Cameroonian is the younger man, at 31, and he enters his first title defence with an unbeaten record.
Last time out, on the Canelo vs Crawford undercard, Mbilli fought Lester Martinez to a brutal draw to retain the interim WBC title, but he was later upgraded to regular champion when Crawford retired.
Can Canelo prove that he is still among the best in the world? Or, as he returns from elbow surgery, will he show himself to be in the twilight of his great career? Here’s all you need to know.
When is the fight?
Canelo vs Mbilli will take place on Saturday 31 October at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. No timings have yet been announced, but the main card is expected to begin at 6pm GMT (11am PT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET), with main-event ring walks following at around 10pm GMT (3pm PT / 5pm CT / 6pm ET).
How can I watch it?
The event will stream live exclusively on DAZN pay-per-view at a cost of £24.99 ($79.99 in the US), and on DAZN Ultimate Tier – which is priced at £24.99 per month. You can purchase the fight or an Ultimate Tier subscription here.
Will the event go ahead, and why is this a question?
The organisation of the fight card has been the subject of intense speculation in recent weeks, due to numerous deadly attacks on Riyadh’s airports. Per Saudi authorities, more than 300 people have been left injured and at least 21 dead, due to strikes by the Yemen-aligned Houthis.
The international airport has reopened, but the US Department of State has urged citizens to “reconsider travel to Saudi Arabia due to risk of drone and missile targeting", while areas near the Yemen border have been listed as such: “do not travel due to terrorism”.
Despite these attacks, Saudi adviser and boxing matchmaker Turki Alalshikh has continued to promote the fight, and he tweeted earlier this month, “[Canelo] fears nothing,” adding: “My country is home to the two Holy Mosques, land of peace, safety, rich civilisation, deep history and kind-hearted people.” Canelo arrived in Riyadh on Monday and said in a video on Alalshikh’s X account: “I love to be here in Riyadh, and I’m excited to fight on Saturday.”
However, one undercard bout might have been cancelled, per journalist Dan Rafael, who said Lindolfo Delgado would “probably not” face Arthur Biyarslanov; Delgado and his team had reportedly not made travel plans, although Biyarslanov had already arrived in Riyadh. Rafael also said that broadcaster DAZN would likely present the event from a studio in London.
Odds
Canelo – 4/11
Mbilli – 9/4
Draw – 14/1
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Fight card in full
Subject to change; ‘C’ denotes champion:
Christian Mbilli (C) vs Canelo Alvarez (vacant WBC super-middleweight title)
Jaime Munguia vs Nikita Zon (super-middleweight)
Rafael Espinoza (C) vs Ricardo Blandon (WBO featherweight title)
David Picasso vs Carl Jammes Martin (featherweight)
Reito Tsutsumi vs Raymundo Rojas Garcia (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)
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