This announcement comes just one day after Turki Alalshikh called for Crawford to come out of retirement and face Alvarez in a rematch. Mike Coppinger of Ring Magazine announced that Alvarez will face the WBC champion at 168 pounds, Christian Mbilli. A new official date will probably come sooner than later, given that even late October is just four months-ish away at this point.
- The last time anyone saw the 36-year-old legend in the ring, he was on the losing end of Terence Crawford’s retirement fight.
- “I don’t think he has the style to want to survive. So, he’s going to come and throw a lot of punches and do his best. He’s a champion and a very aggressive fighter. He comes forward, and that makes me excited because it’s a good style to make for a good fight. It could be a fight of the year.”
- The troubled 49-year-old initially announced his return to professional boxing against Manny Pacquiao in September, but that fight is now being pushed back a few months as ‘Money’ looks to rebook one of his two recently failed matchups.
- Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) has not boxed since September 13, 2025, when Terence Crawford took his undisputed super middleweight championship by unanimous decision in Las Vegas.
The delay pushes back Canelo’s bid to reclaim the WBC belt from the unbeaten champion following his loss to Terence Crawford. Earlier this month, Iglesias, who fights under the same promotion as Mbilli (Eye of the Tiger Promotions), successfully defended his IBF marble for the first time as he capped off a dominant display with a seventh-round knockout of Denmark’s Oliver Zaren. ⏪ One year ago today, Terence Crawford etched his name into the history books with a unanimous decision victory over Canelo Alvarez 👑 pic.twitter.com/D4muo8RdZg Coppinger added on X, “Canelo tells me he wants the rematch with Terence Crawford more than anything; that he knows what his mistakes were after watching it back 5 times.”
I’ve been in there with Mbilli, but I’ve watched both of them fight and I can’t pick a clear winner.” Kawada has previous bylines with ClutchPoints, Sportskeeda MMA, BetSided and FanSided MMA. Jaren Kawada is a combat sports writer who specializes in betting, with over five years anthony joshua vs tyson fury of experience in boxing and MMA. Alvarez has been targeting the date for the sole purpose of the grand launch of Canelo Promotions during the week of Mexican Independence Day since January.
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The troubled 49-year-old initially announced his return to professional boxing against Manny Pacquiao in September, but that fight is now being pushed back a few months as ‘Money’ looks to rebook one of his two recently failed matchups. Canelo’s bid to regain the WBC super middleweight title has been pushed back after the Riyadh showdown was postponed For Mbilli, the delay extends the wait for the biggest fight of his career after being elevated to full WBC champion earlier this month. The delay extends Canelo’s return following his loss to Terence Crawford while pushing back Mbilli’s first defense as full WBC champion. It was on that undercard that Mbilli fought Lester Martinez to a 10-round split draw in one of the year’s best action fights.
“I hope that it happens again. I think we need it. It’s no bigger fight than that. If not, I wish him the best,” Alvarez said in an interview with The Ring’s Mike Coppinger. Alvarez, 36, is adamant that a rematch needs to happen because the result would be much different, and says it’s the exact superfight that boxing needs. “That being said, I’m down for any big fight once the Canelo chapter is done. Since then, Mbilli has been elevated to full WBC world champion, whilst Armando Resendiz was upgraded to WBA titleholder – only to later lose the belt to Jaime Munguia. When not writing, he enjoys spending time with his children and his fiancée, along with playing softball. However, with Crawford adamant about his retirement, Alalshikh would likely need to make a record-breaking offer.