Ready or not, Christian Mbilli positions for Canelo Alvarez

It wasn’t perfect in the eyes of those who have boxed for a living, but Christian Mbilli’s record remains unblemished, and with another proving-ground bout likely looming, a showdown with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2025 appears to be nearing.

Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs) topped former middleweight title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko on Saturday night on ESPN, putting in motion what many expect to be a collision with recent super middleweight title contender Jaime Munguia should Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) defeat Erik Bazinyan on Sept. 20 in Glendale, Arizona.

“It’s tough to compel Canelo to do anything, but we know Canelo will respond to a challenge,” Mbilli promoter Bob Arum said.

On Monday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Top Stories,” analysts and former world titleholders Timothy Bradley Jr. and Chris Algieri, who were both working for ESPN in Quebec City, Canada, and watched Mbilli closely, weighed in on his prospects.

“Is he him, as far as, ‘Will he be Canelo’s next opponent?’” Algieri asked in regard to France’s Mbilli, a Cameroon native. “Yes. Is he him, as the kids say it? No. I saw so many technical flaws. He was fighting a 38-year-old with one arm [after a fourth-round Derevyanchenko injury] and was still getting hit, hurt to the body sometimes, and he got tired.

“You got to see, that engine isn’t the same as it is against lesser competition.”

And Mbilli had been in there with a bunch of lesser competition before Saturday. Algieri said Mbilli needs to tighten up those loopholes or they will undoubtedly be exposed by a champion – whether it’s former 154-pound belt-wearer Munguia or Mexico’s famed four-division champion with the red hair.

“The big, wide shots, the falling forward, the getting square in front of the opponent, the bending over, [vulnerable] for uppercuts … he leans over the front foot,” Algieri said. “As far as him taking over the division, I don’t see it.”

Bradley told Algieri, “I see the holes you see,” but based on Mbilli’s energy, power and potential, he would still want to see Alvarez-Mbilli.

As we await the likely one-sided Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga bout on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas, a date with the WBC’s top-ranked super middleweight contender seems more appetizing. And it’s why Bradley admitted he participated in some “reverse psychology” by saying on the ESPN broadcast that Alvarez will stay away from Mbilli.

“[Mbilli] will be tough on anybody,” Bradley said. “You can put him in the ring against Canelo and he’ll be tough. He’s definitely dangerous. He has a high-revving motor. He has punching power. He can pressure Canelo.”

Bradley predicts Alvarez would prevail thanks to his counterpunching expertise and calm.

“Canelo might stop him late,” Bradley said. “However, the kid deserves a title shot, and that might be brewing.”

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s Senior U.S. Writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.