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Christian Mbilli Defends WBC Super Middleweight World
Title Against Saul Alvarez Sept. 12 In Saudi Arabia
After years of waiting and anticipation, the biggest fight
in the history of Quebec boxing is now official. The new WBC
super middleweight world champion, Christian Mbilli, will
defend his title on the grandest stage on September 12, when
he takes on Mexican legend Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at ANB
Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“Canelo Alvarez is the greatest test of my life—a life of
effort, perseverance, and hard work that has prepared me for
this moment. On September 12, I promise to etch my name into
the history of the sport by delivering a war like you’ve
never seen,” said the reigning WBC super middleweight world
champion, Christian “Solide” Mbilli.
On the road to #CaneloMbilli, Montreal’s Christian Mbilli
(29-0-1, 24 KOs) will have faced no fewer than five top-10
contenders from one of the major sanctioning bodies. He won
a war against Ecuadorian puncher Carlos Góngora, stopped
Australian brawler Rohan Murdock, clearly outclassed
Ukrainian technician Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and destroyed
Polish veteran Maciej Sulecki in the first round.
After becoming interim champion against Sulecki, he
successfully defended his title against the dangerous
Guatemalan Lester Martinez in a bout broadcast on Netflix in
front of nearly 40 million viewers on the undercard of #CaneloCrawford.
In addition to being named Fight of the Night, the Mbilli
vs. Martinez clash was later awarded Fight of the Year by
the WBC. In the months that followed, with the retirement of
Terence Crawford and Hamzah Sheeraz declining to face Mbilli
for the vacant title, the WBC elevated its interim champion—Mbilli—to
full world champion status. The new champion, trained by
Marc Ramsay, now has a date with the Mexican fighter,
currently ranked the WBC’s No. 1 contender—a position long
held by Mbilli himself.
“We’ve been trying for years to make the fight between
Christian Mbilli and ‘Canelo’ happen, and now you finally
understand why September 12. The event is called ‘Mexico vs.
The World’ and will take place in Saudi Arabia, but that
night, we’ll be fighting for all of Quebec,” said EOTTM
president Camille Estephan.
For a rare time in his career—and for the first time since
2022—Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) will enter the
ring as the challenger against Mbilli. Over a professional
career spanning more than 20 years, the 35-year-old Mexican
has captured 14 world titles and competed in 24 world
championship bouts across four weight divisions. At super
middleweight, he became the first undisputed champion in the
division’s history in 2021, reigning at the top of the
168-pound class until September 2025, when he was defeated
by Terence Crawford. Mbilli will be the 15th undefeated
fighter Alvarez has faced in his career, having handed a
first loss to 11 of them so far.
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