While having named Terence Crawford his ideal opponent, Canelo Alvarez has also highlighted a more realistic fight that could materialise if he dethrones Christian Mbilli.<\/p>\n
The two super-middleweights will square off in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, later today, with Mbilli making a first defence of his WBC world title.<\/p>\n
He was elevated from \u2018interim\u2019 to full champion last December, just a few months after boxing to an enthralling 10-round draw with Lester Martinez.<\/p>\n
That same night, Canelo lost his undisputed crown to Crawford<\/a>, who had moved up two weight divisions and scored a career-defining unanimous decision victory.<\/p>\n The American then announced his retirement \u2013 hence why Mbilli was upgraded to full champion \u2013 yet Canelo remains hopeful that a rematch can nonetheless be explored.<\/p>\n Alternatively, though, the Mexican would also be open to a second encounter with Dmitry Bivol, who won their first contest via a comprehensive unanimous decision<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n Since then, the Russian has gone on to become the undisputed king at 175lbs, with his majority decision triumph over Artur Beterbiev arriving in February 2025.<\/p>\n Following a wide points victory over Michael Eifert earlier this year, Bivol will now defend his three belts against Callum Smith on December 12.<\/p>\n