Canelo Alvarez will make his highly anticipated return to the ring and challenge Christian Mbilli for the WBC super middleweight title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September, The Ring announced Thursday.
Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) hasn’t fought since losing the undisputed super middleweight championship to Terence Crawford in September. Following that loss, he underwent elbow surgery.
Now healed, Alvarez will look to reclaim one of the titles that he lost last year.
Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) last fought Lester Martinez to a split draw on the undercard of Alvaraez -Crawford. Mbilli, who came into that fight as the interim WBC super middleweight champion, was elevated to full champion after Crawford retired in December. The powerful French Cameroonian has been impressive with wins over Maciej Sulecki and Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Alvarez’s return had been penciled in for Sept. 12, but no date has been officially announced for the fight.
