Canelo Alvarez Beat Christian Mbilli to Regain the WBC Title and Immediately Asked for Terence Crawford: What Happens Next
Canelo Alvarez took the WBC super middleweight title back on Halloween in Riyadh, beating Christian Mbilli by unanimous decision on scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112. It was his first fight in more than 13 months, and it handed Mbilli the first loss of his career.
Then Alvarez spent his post-fight interviews asking for a man who has already retired.
How He Won It
Alvarez is 36 and had not fought since losing his undisputed championship to Terence Crawford in September 2025. He had elbow surgery during the layoff, then came back and fought like a man with a plan rather than one chasing a knockout.
Mbilli was busier early and took the initiative in the fifth. Alvarez took the sixth, trapped him on the ropes in the seventh and landed a right uppercut that visibly hurt him. Referee Hector Afu deducted a point from Mbilli in the eighth for chopping punches to the back of the head, a call The Ring described as questionable. Alvarez controlled the last four rounds and taunted Mbilli in the twelfth.
CompuBox figures cited by ESPN had Alvarez landing 132 power punches to Mbilli’s 99. He never looked like he was trying to finish, the one real criticism of the night.
“It’s so difficult to explain. It’s something unbelievable. It feels like my first title,” Alvarez said in the ring. “Now I won that title again. I’m so proud of my team.” Asked whether he would have done anything differently: “No, I did perfectly.”
Mbilli’s Corner Did Not Love It
Mbilli came in 29-0-1 with 24 knockouts and left 29-1-1. He is 31, born in Yaounde, Cameroon, and fights out of Quebec. He had held the WBC title since January 2026, when he was elevated after Crawford’s belt came free, meaning he never won it in the ring and has now lost it there.
His trainer, Marc Ramsay, picked his words carefully with Le Journal de Montreal. “I don’t want to cry robbery,” Ramsay said. “At the same time, I really thought the fight was closer.” He added that “the one the whole boxing industry wanted to see on the throne was Canelo Alvarez,” and that “it’s a bit like boxing politics that spoke.”
Promoter Camille Estephan went further: “It was Canelo’s reputation that won this fight more than Canelo himself.”
Mbilli himself had not spoken publicly as of Sunday, and no attendance or pay-per-view figure has been released.
The Crawford Thing Is Not Happening
Asked by FightHubTV whether he hopes to get Crawford back in the ring, Alvarez said: “Hopefully, yes. Hopefully, yes.” He went on: “We would honestly love to have that rematch, like I’ve told you.”
Crawford is 39, retired at 42-0 and has been asked about this repeatedly. His answer has been short. “It’s over with.”
Chasing that fight is the least interesting version of Alvarez’s next 12 months. There is a better option sitting in his own sanctioning body.
Lester Martinez Should Be Next
The 168-pound division is now split four ways with one belt vacant. Alvarez holds the WBC. Jaime Munguia retained the WBA on the same card, surviving a scare from Nikita Zon. Osleys Iglesias, 16-0 with 15 knockouts, holds the IBF. The WBO is vacant after Hamzah Sheeraz relinquished it, with Janibek Alimkhanuly meeting Jacob Bank for it on January 23 in Denmark.
Then there is Lester Martinez, the WBC interim champion at 21-0-1 with 17 knockouts. The 31-year-old Guatemalan fought Mbilli to a split draw in September 2025, won the interim belt over Immanuwel Aleem in March and defended it by 10th-round stoppage in August. The Ring reported he wants the winner. He is the mandatory, he is unbeaten, and he has already handled the man Alvarez just beat.
Nothing is signed. Alvarez told ESPN during fight week his next bout would likely come by February, while The Ring reported spring 2027. He said only that he would take “a couple of weeks off.” He has one fight left on his four-fight Riyadh Season deal.
He has the belt back and one obligation left. Spending it on a retired man instead of the unbeaten challenger already in line would waste both.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
