Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Christian Mbilli have formally announced their September 12 fight in Saudi Arabia.
They have come face-to-face in Egypt and will headline a bill called Mexico vs. The World in Riyadh.
Canelo has had two bouts since joining forces with Riyadh Season, defeating William Scull on points and losing a decision to Terence Crawford.
Coming off the loss, he had elbow surgery, but turning 36 in July, Canelo still has plenty of belief in himself.
“I’m so confident. I’m always confident because I know where I am, how I train, how I feel and how good I am,” Canelo said at the press conference. “So I’m very confident.”
Asked about his desire following his 63-3-2 (39 KOs) career, the Mexican insisted: “I still want it. I feel like I’m 15 years old.”
Mbilli is 29-0-1 (24 KOs), with the draw coming in a 10-round thriller against Lester Martinez on the Canelo-Crawford bill.
“He’s a champion and he’s a dangerous fighter,” said Canelo. “He throws a lot of punches, he’s strong and I like that kind of fight. I love it.”
Such as they are, boxing politics saw Mbilli awarded the WBC 168lbs title following the draw, which was for the Interim title, but the Canada-based Cameroonian, 31, has been happy with his progress.
“My goal was to be a world champion and to have a fight with Canelo,” he explained. “The last six months has been incredible. I think I have a good style to beat Canelo, because I am an amazing fighter. I have good power, good speed, I have all the ability to beat Canelo and win this fight.
“I don’t care about the age [with Canelo getting older]. The fact is it’s my ability to box and his ability and it’s perfect timing for me.”
Mbilli said he saw weaknesses in Canelo’s fight with Crawford that he could expose.
“In September, you’re going to be surprised. In September, you will regret being in that ring,” he said to the future Hall of Famer.
“You will see different things. I’m not your opponent to come to France and all this,” Canelo fired back.
“I’m not Munguia…” Mbilli said.
“You’re not Golovkin,” added Canelo.
“If I’m 50 years old, you can’t beat me. In this life, he can’t beat me.”
Mbilli said it was a 50-50 contest and that it could be Fight of the Decade. Asked what percentage chance Mbilli had to win, Canelo said, “Zero.”
