Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez returns to the ring in Riyadh on Saturday for the first time since his defeat to Terence Crawford, the third loss of his professional career. He faces Christian Mbilli for the WBC super middleweight crown he lost to Crawford 13 months ago.
Mbilli inherited the belt in June after Crawford's retirement. The challenger is unbeaten, strong, comes forward and throws lots of punches. His knockout statistics are impressive, but landing an equalizer on Canelo is described as the hardest job in boxing.
Canelo's defensive mastery
Canelo does not get hit with power shots. His technique is so good, his chin always tucked. He rolls his head and has great upper body movement, all of which means he never gets nailed.
This is his first fight since the defeat to Crawford, only the third loss of his career after Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Dimitri Bivol at light heavyweight. Bivol was the naturally bigger man and an unbelievable talent, though not quite at the historic level of Crawford and Mayweather.
Mbilli's aggressive style
Mbilli does not run. He comes to fight, and that will make this a very exciting contest. Canelo is regarded as one of the best in-fighters ever seen, in the same bracket as Roberto Duran.
He was arguably at his best at light middle, where he went through a raft of high-class opponents, including Brits Ryan Rhodes, Liam Smith and Amir Khan. He was exceptional at middleweight too, with epic duels against Gennadiy Golovkin.
What to expect on Saturday
Super middle is now his natural ceiling. It will be fascinating to learn what version of Canelo appears after the Crawford defeat. He loves to get close and break down opponents, spending the early rounds observing and assessing before getting to work in the second half of fights.
Mbilli is super strong with a big heart, but does not have the depth to stretch Canelo. Canelo's defence is so tight that it would be staggering were Mbilli to enjoy anything like the success he has had elsewhere despite throwing a greater volume of punches. This could end early, but more likely Canelo will have to go the distance to regain the crown.
