Canelo Alvarez attempts to return to the super-middleweight throne this weekend as he challenges for Christian Mbilli’s WBC title on Saturday.
Mbilli was elevated to full world champion when Terence Crawford retired from the sport, just three months after the he had dethroned Alvarez to become boxing’s first post-war three-division undisputed champion.
Now, 13 months on from that clash – where Mbilli appeared on the undercard – both Canelo and the French-Cameroonian champion end the longest periods of inactivity in their respective careers as they collide with one another.
Speaking with ESNews, Jose Benavidez Sr anticipated a difficult fight for Alvarez, due to the hunger of the reigning WBC super-middleweight champion.
“I think that Canelo should win, he has got more experience and we have seen what he has done. I am just hoping that, on that day, the body wants to go, but at the end of the day it is a tough fight.
“Mbilli is coming for everything, he is younger, he is fresher and I think that it is a good fight. It all depends how Canelo comes, we have seen Canelo wanting to come [forward] but the body is just [not there].
“The way that he walks, the way that he throws his punches are not the same, so hopefully this time he comes a little bit better, but I think that he can beat Mbilli – that is what I think.”
Meanwhile, whilst also predicting a Canelo win, three-division world champion David Benavidez told DAZN Boxing that he expects his foe to ‘walk through Mbilli’ without much trouble.
“I think that Canelo walks through him. I think that Canelo is a great fighter, he is levels above Mbilli. I don’t disrespect Mbilli but I don’t think that he is on Canelo’s level and it is a great fight for Canelo, stylistically.
“I think that he [Canelo] has been wanting a fight like that because he has been fighting more boxers [that brawlers], Terence Crawford and the Cuban guy that he fought before [William Scull].
“I think that this fight is more tailor-made for his style, so it is going to be a good fight for him. I expect him to win by knockout.”
Canelo-Mbilli takes place on Saturday, with the likes of Jaime Munguia and Rafael Espinoza appearing on the undercard.
