Imperial Fight Magazine · Boxing · Fight Report
Thirteen months after losing his crown, a 36-year-old Canelo Alvarez walked into Riyadh as the challenger and walked out a world champion again.
For most of the last decade, Canelo Alvarez was the man everyone else had to go through. The belts were his, and the division revolved around him.
That changed in September 2025, when Terence Crawford took his undisputed super middleweight crown. For the first time in a long time, Canelo was the man looking up at the belt instead of wearing it.
On October 31, 2026, he took one of them back.
Canelo beat Christian Mbilli by unanimous decision to win the WBC super middleweight title. The scores were 115-112, 116-111 and 117-110. It wasn't a knockout. It wasn't a war. It was something else: a veteran reminding the division that experience still wins fights.
The Fight at a Glance
| Result | Canelo by unanimous decision |
| Scorecards | 115-112, 116-111, 117-110 |
| Title | WBC super middleweight |
| Date | October 31, 2026 · Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Records after | Canelo 63-3-2 (39 KOs) · Mbilli 29-1-1 |
THIRTEEN MONTHS AWAY
The loss to Crawford wasn't just a defeat. It raised the question every great fighter eventually faces: is this the beginning of the end?
Canelo didn't rush back to answer it. He had arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow and sat out the longest stretch of his career.
While he was gone, the division shifted. Crawford was stripped of one belt and then retired, leaving the rest behind. For the first time in years, the titles at 168 pounds were spread across new names.
One of those names was Christian Mbilli.
THE CHAMPION IN FRONT OF HIM
Mbilli arrived unbeaten and dangerous. The French-Cameroonian built his reputation on relentless volume, the kind of pressure that breaks fighters down over twelve rounds.
His last outing had been a thrilling draw with Lester Martinez, on the same night Crawford beat Canelo. Now he was the man defending a belt, and Canelo was the one trying to take it.
On paper, it was the kind of matchup that should worry an aging star. A younger, busier champion. A long layoff. A surgically repaired elbow.
The question wasn't whether Canelo could still fight. It was whether he could still keep up.
HOW THE FIGHT WAS WON
The early rounds were close. Canelo took the opener with cleaner, sharper exchanges, but Mbilli raised his pace in the second and showed he could compete.
Then the fight turned.
By the middle rounds, Canelo was reading Mbilli's attack and punishing it. In the sixth he opened up, landing hard counters to the body and head. Mbilli's best chance was to swarm and make it ugly. Instead, he let Canelo set the rhythm, and once Canelo controls the rhythm, very few fighters get it back.
Down the stretch, Canelo boxed with total composure. He picked his shots, banked rounds, and made a world champion look like a sparring partner.
THE EIGHTH-ROUND CONTROVERSY
Not everything about the night was clean.
In the eighth, after Canelo complained to the referee, Mbilli was docked a point for punches to the back of the head. The broadcast team was critical, pointing out that Canelo had been dipping his head low throughout the fight.
It's a fair debate. But it didn't decide anything. Give Mbilli the point back and the cards read 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111. Canelo still wins on all three.
There was also a note of caution on the other side: reports suggested Mbilli may have been dealing with an arm injury during the fight.
WHAT COMES NEXT
At 36, with 69 professional fights behind him, every Canelo win now comes with a retirement question attached.
He has already given a rough answer. Before the fight, he told ESPN that "four or five more fights would be enough."
That makes every one of those fights matter. Hamzah Sheeraz and interim WBC champion Lester Martinez are both in line as challengers. And there's still the rematch fans have wanted for years: Dmitry Bivol, the man who beat Canelo at light heavyweight in 2022.
THE DIVISION IS WATCHING
Canelo's win puts the WBC belt back in the most famous hands in boxing. It also puts a target on him.
The next wave at 168 pounds is already lining up. Two weeks from now, on November 14 in Carson, California, unbeaten Diego Pacheco meets Darius Fulghum for the WBC Silver and WBO International titles. Whoever wins moves one step closer to the kind of night Canelo just had.
The young fighters have the legs. Canelo still has the answers.
For now, the king is back on the throne.
Imperial Fight Magazine
Beyond the bell. Beyond the record. Beyond the fight.