Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has started training for his return to the ring, a Sept. 12 bout in Saudi Arabia that will come almost 12 months after he lost his undisputed super-middleweight titles to Terence Crawford in Las Vegas.
Alvarez, 35, suffered his third defeat in 68 fights in that unanimous decision loss, and his comeback will now be staged on a card called Mexico Against the World. The show in Saudi Arabia will feature other leading names from Mexico, giving Alvarez a home-country feel even though the fight is far from home.
Speaking to Box Azteca about the return and the opponent, Alvarez said he wishes he were already only days from fighting, but added that he had to deal with elbow surgery he called overdue and take care of injuries that had piled up. He said he feels very good now, has been training, and is happy because sometimes that is what the body needs.
The opponent is not set, but the most likely name is Christian Mbilli, the new WBC champion. Mbilli kept his interim super-middleweight belt with a draw against Lester Martinez on the Canelo-Crawford undercard, then was upgraded to full champion after Crawford was stripped of the title. Alvarez said the field is being studied and that he and his team will choose the best rival, ideally a champion.
The weight of the bout goes beyond one name. Alvarez is ranked number one at super-middleweight, and that positioning makes Mbilli the clearest route back to a world title because there is no mandatory challenger in his way. Jose Armando Resendiz was upgraded to full WBA champion at the beginning of the year after beating Caleb Plant, Osleys Iglesias recently won the vacant IBF title, and Hamzah Sheeraz and Alem Begic are set to fight for the vacant WBO belt on May 22 in Egypt.
That leaves the division in motion just as Alvarez tries to re-enter it. If Mbilli gets through the politics and the numbers, Canelo’s September return could quickly become a title fight again. If not, the champion Alvarez meets in Saudi Arabia will still be chosen from a field that is changing by the month.
