Boxing: Christian Mbilli to defend his WBC title against Canelo Alvarez on October 31 in Riyadh
Christian Mbilli, born in Yaoundé, will put his WBC super-middleweight world title on the line on October 31, 2026, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, against Mexican Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. The World Boxing Council confirmed the matchup and the date on its official website.
The organization of the fight had wavered. According to the Orange Sport channel website, Saudi promoter Turki Alalshikh had considered moving the event to Las Vegas in November, amid regional uncertainty, before returning to Riyadh. The boxer expressed his relief that the date was kept, noting that he preferred Saudi Arabia to Nevada, where the Mexican crowd would have been largely hostile toward him.
Thirty fights without a loss
Mbilli's professional record, according to his Wikipedia entry, stands at 29 wins, zero losses, and one draw in 30 fights, including 24 victories by knockout. Born on April 26, 1995, in Yaoundé and holding Canadian citizenship, he built his career from Quebec, where he notably defeated Sergiy Derevyanchenko on points on August 17, 2024.
He captured the interim WBC title on June 27, 2025, by dispatching Maciej Sulecki in the first round, then conceded the only draw of his career against Lester Martinez on September 13, 2025, in Las Vegas, a duel named fight of the year 2025 by the WBC. On January 27, 2026, he was elevated to full champion status after Terence Crawford vacated the belt.
An opponent in search of redemption
For Alvarez, 2026 is a year of rebuilding: the Mexican lost his belts to Terence Crawford in September 2025, before undergoing elbow surgery at the start of the year, the WBC recalls. A former undisputed champion of the division, he comes to Riyadh looking for a return to the top.
For Mbilli, it is the opposite: a first defense against the biggest star in world boxing of the last decade, to transform an inherited title into an established reign. According to Orange Sport, he is preparing for the fight in Spain, in a facility belonging to Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, who is personally accompanying him during this camp. A boxer trained far from African circuits, but whose victory on October 31 would resonate from Yaoundé to Montreal.
This article was written in French with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited below, then translated from French automatically. Read the original.
