Canelo Alvarez v Mbilli on 31 October: WBC preview, times, odds

The WBC published its official preview of Canelo Alvarez v Christian Mbilli. It lists the WBC super middleweight title fight for Saturday 31 October at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, with DAZN pay-per-view as the international broadcaster. The preview is promoted as "Sela Presents" and carries career data for both fighters.

The main card is expected to start at 6pm UK time, with main-event ring walks at 8.30pm, according to The Independent. Betway, quoted by The Independent, offers 4/11 on Alvarez, 9/4 on Mbilli and 14/1 on a draw.

Alvarez landed in Riyadh in the early hours of Monday 26 October, five days before the fight. In a video on Turki Alalshikh’s X account he said: "I love to be here in Riyadh, and I’m excited to fight on Saturday."

WBC preview: the numbers

The WBC’s preview sets out the following details for the two men. It lists Alvarez as the WBC number one super middleweight and Mbilli as the WBC super middleweight champion since 2025.

	Christian Mbilli	Canelo Alvarez
Age	31	36
Record	29-0-1, 24 KOs	63-3-2, 39 KOs
Knockout ratio	82.76%	61.90%
Rounds boxed	143	532
World title fights	2 (1-0-1)	28 (24-3-1)
Nationality	French	Mexican
Residence	Montreal, Quebec	California
Trainer	Marc Ramsay	Eddy Reynoso
Promoter	Eye of the Tiger	Canelo Promotions

The WBC says Alvarez holds the longest consecutive reign of the modern era in the division, from 2020 to 2025, and that his nine successful defences sit second to Nigel Benn’s 10. It lists Mbilli’s earlier titles as the WBC Continental Americas super middleweight belt, held from 2021 to 2024 with eight defences. The preview also names Alvarez as the undisputed super middleweight champion from 2021 to 2025.

Start times and how to watch

The Independent gives the main card as starting at 6pm UK time (2pm ET), with main-event ring walks at 8.30pm UK time (4.30pm ET).

Bad Left Hook listed a DAZN time of 9.15am ET for both the prelims and the main card.

The event streams exclusively on DAZN pay-per-view at £24.99, or $79.99 in the United States, and is included with the DAZN Ultimate tier, which is £24.99 a month, according to The Independent. Journalist Dan Rafael has reported that DAZN is likely to present the show from a studio in London rather than ringside. DAZN has not commented on that report.

Odds and the fighters

Betway’s prices, quoted by The Independent, are Alvarez 4/11, Mbilli 9/4 and a draw 14/1. Odds change.

Alvarez is fighting for the first time since he lost a unanimous decision to Terence Crawford in Las Vegas 13 months ago. The Independent reports that he is returning from elbow surgery. Mbilli is making his first defence of the WBC title as regular champion.

Mbilli also fought on the Crawford undercard, drawing with Lester Martinez. The Independent reports that he retained the interim WBC title that night and was later upgraded to regular champion when Crawford retired. Mbilli has said he must beat Alvarez "to prove that I am the number one of the division", according to British Boxing News.

Fight card

The Independent lists nine bouts, all subject to change. Alvarez challenges Mbilli in the main event, with Jaime Munguia v Nikita Zon and Rafael Espinoza’s WBO featherweight title defence against Ricardo Blandon the other highest-listed bouts.

The WBC preview describes a 10-bout card and names five fights. It lists Espinoza against Lorenzo Parra rather than Blandon, and gives Picasso v Martin as a WBC Silver featherweight bout. It also gives the venue as the Kingdom Arena, which Boxing News also uses. The Independent gave the ANB Arena and BoxingInsider referred to The Venue.

Bout	Division
Christian Mbilli (champion) v Canelo Alvarez	WBC super middleweight title
Jaime Munguia v Nikita Zon	Super middleweight
Rafael Espinoza (champion) v Ricardo Blandon	WBO featherweight title
David Picasso v Carl Jammes Martin	Featherweight
Reito Tsutsumi v Raymundo Rojas Garcia	Super featherweight
Bek Nurmaganbet v Marcos Vazquez Rodriguez	Super middleweight
Brayan Leon v Hector Aguirre	Super middleweight
Emiliano Rojo v Flavius Biea	Middleweight
Sultan Almohammed v Erick Jahir Urvina Villegas	Super featherweight

Fight week and security

BoxingInsider reports that the published fight-week schedule runs from grand arrivals in Riyadh through open workouts and a press conference midweek to the weigh-in on Friday. Alvarez arrived earlier than the schedule required, with Munguia, Espinoza, Carlos Emiliano Rojo and Sultan Almohammed, according to Riyadh Season. The statement said Mbilli had reached Riyadh earlier.

Riyadh residents received a Civil Defense mobile alert warning of an "aerial threat" at 3.42am on Monday, followed minutes later by an all-clear, according to Arab News. The coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile launched towards the capital. King Khalid International Airport resumed international service on Sunday 25 October for the first time since an attack on 10 October that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, according to BoxingInsider.

The Independent reports that Saudi authorities put the toll from recent strikes at more than 300 injured and at least 21 dead. The US State Department’s travel advisory for Saudi Arabia stands at Level 3, "Reconsider Travel", and it ordered non-emergency government staff and their families to leave the country. Alalshikh posted on 11 October that Alvarez had told him he would still fight in Riyadh in October.

Delgado’s fight remains in doubt

Lindolfo Delgado was not among the fighters who arrived on Monday. He was due to face Biyarslanov for the vacant IBF super lightweight title, and Biyarslanov is already in Riyadh. The Independent’s card does not list the bout, although the WBC’s preview still names it.

Delgado’s trainer Robert Garcia said last week: "We don’t have no flights. We don’t have no information. So honestly, I don’t really know what’s going to happen," according to NY Fights. Journalist Lance Pugmire posted that he was "told definitively that Delgado is off the Saudi card". Dan Rafael reported an insider saying the fight was "probably not" happening, with Delgado, Garcia and their team still in the United States without itineraries. According to BoxingInsider, neither Top Rank, Riyadh Season nor the IBF has confirmed a change to the card.