Canelo Alvarez beats Christian Mbilli to reclaim WBC super middleweight title

Alvarez wins back the WBC belt

The judges scored the 12-round fight 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112, all for Alvarez.

Alvarez improved to 64-3-2 with 39 knockouts. Mbilli fell to 29-1-1 with the first loss of his professional career. Referee Hector Afu took a point from Mbilli in the eighth round for illegal blows to the back of the head. The deduction did not decide the outcome. Alvarez would have won on all three cards without it. Mbilli pressed forward for much of the night. Alvarez answered with his jab, counterpunching and defence. He steadily took control of the middle and late rounds. Afterwards the Mexican struggled for words. "It's so difficult to explain," he said. "It's something unbelievable. It feels like my first title".

Back on top after 13 months

Alvarez, 36, returned to the ring for the first time since Terence Crawford beat him in September 2025, a loss that ended his reign as holder of the division's four major titles. He had been champion for seven straight years, from 2018 to 2025, and had elbow surgery after the Crawford defeat.

Mbilli, 31, was elevated to WBC titlist in January after Crawford retired, having drawn with Lester Martinez on the Crawford-Alvarez undercard. Yahoo Sports reported before the fight that Alvarez had not scored a knockout in five years and that a defeat could mark the end of his 20-year professional career.

The win adds another belt to a career that stretches from light middleweight to light heavyweight across 20 years.

How he won

Alvarez's right uppercut was his most effective punch. He rocked Mbilli with it at the end of round seven and took over from there.

CompuBox had Alvarez landing 132 power punches to Mbilli's 99, the busiest he had been in years. Mbilli threw more volume early and forced Alvarez to defend. But he could not sustain it once Alvarez began landing the uppercut as he came in.

Mbilli landed perhaps his best punch in round 12, then backed off rather than following up.

Fight goes ahead amid Yemen conflict

The bout went ahead despite the escalating conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthis. A host of other sporting events in the kingdom were called off after the Houthis launched drone and missile attacks. The Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition and the final round of the World Rally Championship were cancelled, Al Jazeera reported.

Alvarez hinted at the security situation when he thanked his family "who are watching me from afar today for the first time".

What happens next

Alvarez said he wants a couple of weeks off and then to return to training.

He did not name a next opponent. WBC interim champion Lester Martinez is in line as his mandatory challenger. Hamzah Sheeraz is another possibility: he vacated the WBO super middleweight title rather than face his mandatory, Janibek Alimkhanuly, and his close relationship with Turki Alalshikh makes a Canelo fight plausible, according to the Big Fight Weekend column on Yahoo Sports.

Alvarez's next fight would be the fourth and final bout of his deal with Saudi Arabia's Turki Alalshikh, the column said.