Canelo vs Mbilli preview: date, records and the WBC title at stake in Riyadh

Christian Mbilli defends the WBC super middleweight title against Canelo Álvarez on Saturday, October 31, at The Venue in Riyadh. The fight is scheduled for 12 rounds, headlines a Riyadh Season card billed as "Mexico vs. The World" and will be shown worldwide on DAZN pay-per-view.

The champion

Mbilli is unbeaten at 29-0-1 with 24 knockouts. He won the interim WBC title in June 2025 by stopping Maciej Sulęcki in the first round in Quebec City. In September 2025 he fought Lester Martínez to a split draw, a bout the WBC later named its Fight of the Year. In January 2026 the WBC elevated him to full champion. Terence Crawford had already been stripped of the WBC belt and then retired.

The challenger

Canelo is 63-3-2 with 39 knockouts. In September 2025 he lost his undisputed titles to Crawford by unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 115-113) at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He had elbow surgery afterwards and has not fought in 2026. The Mbilli fight was first aimed at September 12 and moved to the end of October.

What is at stake

Only the WBC title is at stake in the main event. A win would give Canelo a world title again at 168 pounds, the division where he was undisputed champion. For Mbilli it is the first defence of the full title and the biggest fight of his career.

Undercard

The undercard was announced on October 8. It has three more title fights:

• Jaime Munguía vs Nikita Zon, WBA super middleweight title
• Rafael Espinoza vs Lorenzo Parra, WBO featherweight title
• Lindolfo Delgado vs Arthur Biyarslanov, vacant IBF super lightweight title