Christian Mbilli vs Canelo: Edgar Berlanga makes his prediction

On September 12 at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Christian Mbilli vs Canelo Alvarez was set to headline The Ring Magazine Mexico vs The Rest of The World fight card. However, that fight was subsequently delayed until October 31, with Canelo revealing to Ariel Helwani that various things in his life contributed to the delay. Now ready to challenge for Mbilli’s WBC super middleweight world title, the countdown to this intriguing matchup has begun. Former Canelo opponent Edgar Berlanga recently spoke to The Ring Magazine, naming the fighter he’s backing.

Christian Mbilli vs Canelo set for Riyadh showdown on October 31

Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs) was last seen in action on September 13, 2025, losing his super middleweight titles to Terence Crawford. Many wondered whether we would see Canelo again. It was then announced that Alvarez would challenge Christian Mbilli for the Cameroonian’s WBC super middleweight title. A title he was elevated to following the non-payment of sanction feesby Terence Crawford.

Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) was in action on the Canelo-Crawford undercard against Lester Martinez, with the fight ending in a split draw. Shortly after Mbilli-Martinez, Crawford was stripped of the title he won against Canelo Alvarez for failing to honour a payment agreement with the sanctioning body.

Revealing the reason for the delay to the Mbilli bout to Helwani, Canelo said:

“There were some problems in my family that I needed to take care of, but everything is good now.

“I’m always very disciplined and very organized with my training camps, and I wasn’t ready to be in training camp. That’s why I postponed the fight, I needed to take care of my family first.

“Everything’s good now. I’m ready to train, and we’ll be ready for October 31st… It’s going to be in Riyadh.”

Berlanga has his say on Christian Mbilli vs Canelo Alvarez

It remains to be seen whether Mbilli has enough to defeat Canelo. Yes, the Mexican is ageing, but even at 36 he still carries plenty of ability. One fighter who is confident Mbilli doesn’t have enough to trouble the Mexican is Berlanga:

“I truly believe that Canelo could stop him,” Berlanga told The Ring. “I think that Mbilli is nothing special. To me, he’s a guy that comes forward, has good conditioning and throws a lot of punches. But when it comes to IQ, I seen him fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, who literally had one hand and almost stopped him. He had one arm. He had torn his [biceps] in the fight. So, that just goes to show where he’s at as a fighter. But overall, I think it’s gonna be a great fight. I just got Canelo beating him.”

Delving deeper into what Canelo has left, Berlanga said:

“I think [a win will show] he’s back and he’s gonna try to capture all the titles again, and try to become undisputed.” 

“I truly believe that the fight between me and him, we could make a [rematch]. Me and Canelo is gonna be another big fight that could happen on the horizon. I’ve just got to win a title. I’ve got to beat a big name and then I think that fight is right there for us to make,” added Berlanga.

Stay with Big Fight Weekend for coverage of Christian Mbilli vs Canelo, including results and video highlights, and post-fight analysis.

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@Turki_alalshikh