Canelo Alvarez in the ring during his clash with Terence Crawford

The Canelo Alvarez vs Christian Mbilli undercard is reportedly set to be reinforced by another world title fight.

WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza will defend his belt against Lorenzo Parra on the October 31 "Mexico vs the World" bill in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Canelo Alvarez [left] with Christian Mbilli [right]
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Boxing superstar Canelo is back in action with a chance to become world champion againCredit: GETTY

That is according to Boxing News, which reports that an agreement has already been signed.

Parra (24-1-1) of Venezuela is the No.1-ranked contender at 126lbs and picked up the organisation's International trinket by knocking out Elijah Pierce in February.

Mexico's Espinoza (28-0) has held the WBO belt since December 2023, when he defeated two-time Olympic gold medallist Robeisy Ramirez in an enthralling Fight of the Year contender.

He has since defended the burgundy and gold strap four times, most recently retiring Arnold Khegai on his stool at the end of the eleventh round in November last year.

His bout against Parra marks his first outing under the tutelage of Alvarez's trainer Eddy Reynoso.

Who else is expected to feature on the Canelo Alvarez vs Christian Mbilli undercard?

Team Canelo stablemate and WBA super middleweight champion Jaime Munguia is also expected to feature on the card in what is sure to be a busy night for Reynoso.

There had been talks of a unification with Hamzah Sheeraz, but the fight is now off the table, with the WBO recently ordering the Brit to defend against Janibek Alimkhanuly.

WBA top-ranked contenders Bektemir Melikuziev and Jose Armando Resendiz have been linked with a spot on the bill as well.

A vacant IBF super lightweight title clash between rising Mexican contender Lindolfo Delgado and Russian-Canadian Artur Biyarslanov is also in the running.

While the bill is shaping up nicely, all eyes will undoubtedly be on the main event as Alvarez attempts to regain his WBC super middleweight title against Mbilli.

Rafael Espinoza raising his hand before a fight
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Espinoza willl defend his WBO featherweight title for the fifth timeCredit: GETTY

The former pound-for-pound star dropped the WBC belt along with the three other pieces of the undisputed puzzle to Terence Crawford last September.

All of the 168lbs belts subsequently fragmented when Crawford announced his retirement in December, resulting in Mbilli being elevated from interim to full WBC champion.

He makes his first defence against Alvarez after featuring on the Mexican superstar's undercard last time out against Lester Martinez.

Mbilli held Martinez to a contentious split draw and will likely have to rematch the Guatemalan if he beats Alvarez.

Martinez is the current WBC interim super middleweight champion and defended it three weeks ago with a 10th-round stoppage victory over Luka Plantic.

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