Two days before he defends the WBC super middleweight title against Canelo Alvarez, Christian Mbilli said the thing the challenger’s camp has been waiting three weeks to hear from him.
“I’m a little bit shocked, because I was not sure that after he lost that he was going to take on a dangerous fighter like me,” Mbilli told The Ring. “Of course he made a mistake, and I’m going to make him pay. Nobody can take my pressure.”
Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) has spent most of fight week being gracious. “We have been waiting for Canelo for many years,” he said. “I think it’s perfect timing for me because it’s not the same Canelo from five years ago. I respect him. He’s a very good man. He’s a humble man. He’s not like people who make a lot of trash talk. But he’s still very dangerous, and I think I am in my prime right now. It’s a good time for me to have this challenge.” On the Lester Martinez fight that won him the belt: “Martinez was a great fight, but I was not 100 percent. I have learned that I have to take a little bit more of my time, and to work more on my defense, too.” And on Saturday: “I have no pressure. I have nothing to prove. I’m a spectacular boxer. I put a lot of pressure, and I bring a big show for boxing fans. I have to be me, and I will win this fight. The best is yet to come.” At Wednesday’s grand arrivals at VIA Riyadh he put it more simply: “My dream was to fight in Riyadh Season, and right now, my dream is coming true,” according to Arab News.
Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) answered the age question before it was asked. “I feel like I’m 26 years old,” he said in quotes published Thursday. “I believe in that. I’m going to show Mbilli what level of fighter he’s facing.” Of the Crawford loss, he said for the first time that his body gave out: “I tried. But my body wasn’t responding. I had cramps in my legs. Reynoso was telling me everything I needed to do.” On Mbilli, to ESPN Deportes: “He has to do a lot of things. He’s a great fighter, but he’s never faced a fighter like myself with my characteristics. We know he’s a fighter with a lot of stamina who throws a lot of punches.” Asked if this could be one of his most demanding fights: “Yes, it could be. We’ll see.” To The National, he said it “could be fight of the year.”
His trainer went further than he did. “Saul soon will turn 37,” Eddy Reynoso said in DAZN’s documentary. “It’s no secret that we are in our last fights. He gets tired because he’s human. He is more motivated with unfinished business. That’s what has driven him to work harder for this fight.” Alvarez himself told ESPN, “I could fight a lot longer considering how I feel and how my body is,” then: “I think four or five more fights would be enough. I want my last fight to be in Mexico,” and named Estadio Azteca. On the question that has followed him since October 10: “I heard everything that was being said and all that, but my mind was always focused on fighting in Saudi Arabia.”
The city kept interrupting. At about 9 p.m. Riyadh time Thursday, as the official press conference was scheduled to begin at Square 2 in Boulevard City, phones across the capital received a Civil Defense push alert: “Warning. City of Riyadh is under a hostile aerial threat. Please remain calm, stay indoors or in a safe place away from windows and doors, and follow the instructions of Civil Defense.” The coalition said two Houthi ballistic missiles aimed at Riyadh were “intercepted and destroyed.” Civil Defense lifted warnings for Riyadh, Najran and Al Kharj about twenty minutes later, and said one person in Riyadh suffered minor injuries and a house and a vehicle were damaged, according to Arab News. It was the first reported injury in the capital since the October 10 airport attack.
It was also the second night in three with damage in the city, after falling fragments from two intercepted missiles hit a building, a construction site and a vehicle on Tuesday. Earlier Thursday, Canada advised its citizens to “avoid all travel to King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh” and against departing by air from it, joining the US ordered departure of non-emergency government staff and the UK’s all-but-essential advice for the province.
The card itself is now officially nine fights. Riyadh Season’s Wednesday night release described “18 boxers from around the world competing in nine professional fights,” down from the ten announced October 8, and did not mention Arthur Biyarslanov or the vacant IBF junior welterweight title he was to contest with Lindolfo Delgado. Delgado’s trainer, Robert Garcia, pulled his fighter Monday over a travel plan that would have landed him Tuesday for a Saturday title fight. “Who does that in a world title fight?” Garcia said. “We just couldn’t go.” Biyarslanov’s coach had hoped for “Plan B, Plan C.” There was no plan, and neither Top Rank nor the IBF has issued a statement. Rafael Espinoza’s WBO featherweight defense is now against Ricardo Blandon after Lorenzo Parra failed a medical. The release confirms the fight is at The Venue, with the ceremonial weigh-in Friday at 9 p.m. Riyadh time, 2 p.m. ET.
DAZN has moved the whole card into the American afternoon, with the main event ring walk now around 4:30 p.m. ET, and Dan Rafael has reported the announce team is expected to work from a London studio; DAZN has said nothing about either. A week out from its own show in the same complex, WWE still has not named the building Crown Jewel is moving to, as BoxingInsider reported this week.
So the fight has arrived at the part where the fighters do the talking. The champion says the challenger made a mistake. The challenger says the champion has never seen anything like him. The challenger’s trainer says these are the last fights. And the city sent everyone indoors at 9 p.m. on the night of the press conference, and this time somebody was hurt. Saturday at The Venue, roughly 11:30 p.m. in Riyadh, 4:30 in the afternoon in New York.
