Former world champion Paulie Malignaggi has highlighted an area of weakness that could see Canelo Alvarez fall glaringly short against Christian Mbilli.
The two super-middleweights will square off in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 31, with Alvarez having not fought since his unanimous decision defeat to Terence Crawford last September.
Back then, the Mexican hardly disgraced himself but, even so, he was convincingly dethroned by the more dynamic Crawford, who became a three-division undisputed king before announcing his retirement the following December.
In doing so, ‘Bud’ relinquished his four major titles at 168lbs and afforded Mbilli an upgrade from ‘interim’ to full WBC champion.
Like Alvarez, the Frenchman has not fought since September 2025, when he battled to a 10-round draw against Lester Martinez on the Canelo-Crawford undercard.
From a stylistic perspective, many would describe Mbilli as a high-volume pressure fighter while Canelo, traditionally speaking, is more of a counterpuncher who prefers to fight at a slower pace.
Malignaggi has therefore told Fight Hub TV that, while having proven to be the more skilful operator, Alvarez is unlikely to disrupt the frenetic pace at which Mbilli typically fights.
“I don’t think Canelo beats Mbilli. I think Canelo’s more skilled than Mbilli but I don’t think, at 36 years old, fighting at a [high] pace – when you couldn’t handle a fast pace in your prime – is the smartest thing.
“I get the competitiveness of Canelo and I respect it, actually. But it’s a tough fight. Mbilli usually makes up for his lack of skills [by setting a high pace].”
If Mbilli retains his title against Canelo, he will likely be ordered to face the winner of Lester Martinez vs Luka Plantic, which takes place for the WBC ‘interim’ belt this weekend.
