Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez is yet to taste defeat in the super-middleweight division.
The Mexican’s only two losses in a 66 fight campaign came early against Floyd Mayweather and in 2022 against Dmitry Bivol at light-heavyweight.
At 168 pounds, Alvarez fought his way to undisputed status against the likes of Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant. After being stripped of one belt, the IBF, for a failure to face his mandatory challenger, he most recently defended his unified titles against previously undefeated Edgar Berlanga in a routine points win.
There are other contenders like Berlanga coming up and looking for their shot, not least 28-0 Christian Mbilli. The Cameroonian-French super-middleweight has 23 early finishes and currently holds the WBC Continental and WBA International titles.
Speaking to Maestro A ahead of his latest win against notoriously tough Sergiy Derevyanchenko, veteran promoter Bob Arum said that Mbilli can challenge the top dog after one more fight.
“Mbilli really fits very much in our plans. What is the game plan? Well, he’s gotta fight top level fighters. This fight, maybe one more and then we’ll do whatever we can to match him with Canelo Alvarez. Canelo’s really a terrific fighter, but Christian is coming up and I think that that would be a major event when we get that fight made.”
In a seperate interview with Boxing News, Arum talked up Mbilli’s chances against not only the champion, but also David Benavidez.
“We really think that Mbilli would give Canelo a hell of a fight, I think he would beat Canelo, but whatever it would be a really good fight. I think Mbilli also would be very competitive with Benavidez … he is really a force to be reckoned with.”
Where Canelo goes next is unclear. It’s expected that he will receive offers to face both Terence Crawford and David Benavidez, but he himself is looking at avenging his defeat to Dmitry Bivol in another move up to light-heavyweight.
Whatever happens, it’s hard to see Mbilli landing the shot, even despite Arum’s considerable backing. While he waits, fans would like to see him in with the likes of Berlanga and Jaime Munguia.
