Canelo Regains WBC Title With Win Over Mbilli

Mexican star Canelo Alvarez regained the WBC super middleweight world title he had previously held by winning a unanimous decision over Christian Mbilli in Riyadh. Alvarez returned to the ring after a striking loss to Terence Crawford a year earlier and faced a powerful champion who had not yet been beaten.

In the first half of the fight, Mbilli pressed his opponent. He threw short but intense combinations and tried to push Alvarez back toward the ropes. From the sixth round on, however, Canelo took control of the fight. He capitalized on the opening created by a right leg kick with a straight right, worked against the ropes with counterpunches, and used hard leg kicks to make Mbilli cautious.

In the eighth round, he finished a four-punch combination with a right to the head. When Mbilli moved forward, the referee deducted a point from the champion for Alvarez's strike to the back of his opponent's head. Mbilli needed to change the pace, but Alvarez moved to the middle of the ring and kept the pressure on with right hooks.

In the final round, Mbilli landed one punch but quickly backed away. Alvarez called him forward again, but Mbilli did not respond. Alvarez advanced and tried to end the fight with a powerful right hand. The judges' scorecards read 115 to 112, 116 to 111, and 117 to 110.