Christian Mbilli vs Canelo: Teddy Atlas breaks it down

On October 31, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Christian Mbilli vs Canelo headlines a Ring Magazine card with Mbilli’s WBC super middleweight title on the line. The entire card will be shown live on DAZN PPV and DAZN Ultimate. Despite the recent attacks in Riyadh, the card appears to be going ahead without Lindolfo Delgado vs Arthur Biyarslanov. However, ahead of the main event, respected boxing commentator and trainer Teddy Atlas has broken down the bout.

Christian Mbilli vs Canelo Alvarez set for Riyadh on October 31

Canelo Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) was beaten by Terence Crawford in his most recent fight, losing by unanimous decision with scorecards of 116-112 and 115-113 x2. Before that defeat, Canelo had won six consecutive fights, including against Jermell Charlo and Jaime Munguia.

Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) last fought on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford, fighting to a split draw with Lester Martinez. Prior to that, the Cameroonian-born fighter scored his best wins against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Maciej Sulecki, and Rohan Murdock.

Teddy Atlas breaks down Christian Mbilli vs Canelo Alvarez

Looking ahead to Christian Mbilli vs Canelo on October 31, Teddy Atlas wrote:

“Canelo is not going to outwork Mbilli, but Mbilli gets hit clean with the uppercut and he gets hit to the body. Canelo throws a beautiful left hook to the liver, which can stop even a guy with a great chin and a great motor in his tracks.

“Canelo is going to have to hurt Mbilli early to win. If you’re the older guy like Canelo, Mbilli will make you feel that way and make you feel old as the fight goes on.

“Canelo needs to get a knockout, and he and his team must believe they can do it by picking this fight.”

The Big Fight Weekend verdict

The main question when looking at Christian Mbilli vs Canelo is what the Mexican has left. Teddy Atlas is spot on with his breakdown. Canelo needs to make Mbilli feel his power early on, and second guess his normal come-forward tactics.

If Canelo has enough left, he’s capable of making Mbilli miss and punish the Cameroonian fighter, with sharp counterpunching and especially a huge uppercut as the champion comes in head-hunting. In his prime, Canelo would deal with Mbilli, and that’s no disrespect to the WBC champion, as he’s a fearsome and powerful fighter. Despite being 36, we are backing Canelo to win by decision.

Mbilli vs Canelo full fight card

• Christian Mbilli vs Canelo Alvarez, 12 rounds, for Mbilli’s WBC super middleweight title
• Jaime Munguia vs Nikita Zon, 12 rounds, for Munguia’s WBA super middleweight title
• Rafael Espinoza vs Ricardo Blandon, 12 rounds, for Espinoza’s WBO featherweight title
• David Picasso vs Carl Martin, 10 rounds, for Picasso’s WBC Silver featherweight title
• Reito Tsutsumi vs Raymundo Rojas, 10 rounds, super featherweights
• Sultan Almohammed vs Erick Jahir Villegas, 6 rounds, super featherweights
• Bek Nurmaganbet vs Marcos Vazquez, 10 rounds, middleweights
• Emiliano Rojo vs Flavius Biea, 8 rounds, middleweights
• Hector Aguirre vs Brayan Leon Salgado, 8 rounds, super middleweights

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

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