Canelo vs Mbilli: US pulls staff out – DAZN reportedly to call fight from London
Nine days before Canelo's WBC fight with Mbilli in Riyadh, the US has ordered non-emergency government staff to leave Saudi Arabia. DAZN's team will call it from London, Dan Rafael reports.
Archive image · Photo: liton islam / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (cropped and resized)
The US State Department on October 21 ordered the departure of non-emergency government employees and their families from Saudi Arabia. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott cited escalating attacks by Iran-backed Houthis, including on civilian airports and critical infrastructure, MiddleEasy reports. According to the report, the WBC still lists Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez vs Christian Mbilli for October 31 in Riyadh.
According to boxing reporter Dan Rafael, the DAZN broadcast team will, if the fight goes ahead, not be ringside but "call the card remotely from a studio in London", BoxingNews24 reports. No statement from DAZN is quoted in the reports.
Álvarez challenges Mbilli for his WBC super middleweight title. On the undercard, Lindolfo Delgado and Arthur Biyarslanov fight for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title.