Mbilli's promoter: "Christian will arrive in Saudi as planned"
Despite travel warnings, the WBC fight between Mbilli and Canelo on October 31 in Riyadh is still on. Mbilli's promoter Camille Estephan is confident it will happen – and that his fighter wins.
Archive image · Photo: Boxing AIBA / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)
The WBC super-middleweight world title fight between Christian Mbilli and Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez is still set for October 31 in Riyadh, Sky Sports reports. Mbilli's promoter Camille Estephan told the broadcaster: "Christian will arrive in Saudi as planned." He added: "I'm very confident the fight goes ahead and Mbilli will keep his belt and dethrone Canelo, God willing."
The backdrop is the conflict in the region: according to Sky Sports, Riyadh's King Khalid airport has been attacked in recent days. The UK advises against non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia, while the US advises citizens to reconsider travel. Tennis exhibition Six Kings Slam has been postponed. Turki Alalshikh wrote on X, according to Front Office Sports, that Canelo had told him he would fight in Riyadh in October "no matter what happens".
The unbeaten Mbilli won the WBC interim title by beating Maciej Sulecki and was elevated to full champion after Terence Crawford vacated. It is Álvarez's first fight since his defeat to Crawford in 2025. DAZN is broadcasting.