Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is once again a reigning champion after his comeback win over Christian Mbilli last month.
The Mexican icon lost all four super-middleweight belts to Terence Crawford in September 2025, but landed a shot at Mbilli – who was upgraded from interim to full WBC champion when Crawford retired – upon his return.
It was a relatively straightforward unanimous decision win for Alvarez, who will now rest and look to fight again in early 2027. Who he faces remains to be seen, but Lester Martinez – who is trained by Crawford’s coach Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre – is now pushing for his mandatory spot.
Martinez drew with Mbilli on the same card that Canelo lost to Crawford, but has since picked up the interim belt against Immanuwel Aleem earlier this year.
At the WBC convention, his team petitioned for the mandatory spot, but President Mauricio Sulaiman stopped short of granting it.
“At this moment, the fight by Canelo is very recent. And, of course, Canelo – just like Ryan Garcia or [Nayoa] Inoue – is a higher profile. That’s where we’re taking the best care so things happen and not break. So, we will get back once Canelo decides what is the situation with his contract.”
Despite leaving the decision in the champion’s hands, Sulaiman then revealed that he has spoken to Alvarez, who is “more than willing” to fight Martinez, though wants to build the bout up as much as possible.
“I spoke with him directly. They are more than willing to fight Lester Martinez, but they want to do it on the biggest stage possible. So, if you have a defence of the interim title, you may proceed. And we’ll have maybe one month to discuss what will be the proper steps in the super middleweight division.”
