Boxing: Christian Mbilli defends WBC title against Canelo on Saturday

Christian Mbilli defends the WBC super middleweight world title against Mexico's Saúl 'Canelo' Alvarez in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday 31 October. It is the first defence for the Frenchman, unbeaten as a professional at 29-0-1 with 24 stoppages, and he faces one of the most decorated boxers of his generation. The show is on DAZN pay-per-view.

Made in France, based in Montreal

Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the 31-year-old Mbilli boxed as an amateur for France up to the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he lost in the quarter-finals. He turned professional in Montreal and works with trainer Marc Ramsay. He became interim WBC champion with a first-round knockout of Maciej Sulecki in June 2025, was held to a split draw by Lester Martinez in September 2025, and was then elevated to full champion.

The French federation notes that Mbilli prepared for this fight after losing his mother. Ramsay says his fighter can switch styles mid-fight and is more than a pressure puncher. Teddy Atlas, Mike Tyson's former trainer, believes Canelo has to hurt him early, because the champion's youth and work rate could tell in the second half.

Canelo, 13 months after Crawford

Canelo Alvarez, 36, is 63-3-2 with 39 knockouts. He has not fought since 13 September 2025, when Terence Crawford beat him by unanimous decision and took his four super middleweight belts. Saturday is his first chance to become a world champion in the division again.

A reshuffled card and an earlier start

The card changed during the week. The IBF super lightweight title fight between Lindolfo Delgado and Arthur Biyarslanov was pulled on Monday after Delgado's team declined to travel to Saudi Arabia. Rafael Espinoza still defends his WBO featherweight title, but against Ricardo Blandon after Lorenzo Parra was not medically cleared. Jaime Munguia faces Nikita Zon for the WBA super middleweight title.

DAZN has also moved the show earlier. According to the schedule reported by US outlets, prelims start at 10 am ET, the main card at 1 pm ET and the Mbilli-Canelo ring walks are expected around 4:30 pm ET, which is 8:30 pm in the UK and 11:30 pm in Riyadh. The venue is The Venue at Boulevard City in Riyadh, sometimes referred to as Kingdom Arena.

The fight streams only on DAZN pay-per-view, included at no extra cost for DAZN Ultimate subscribers.