Canelo Alvarez is ‘in trouble’ as rival plans to hijack his position as sport’s biggest star

Christian Mbilli is in no mood to let Canelo Alvarez get back to winning ways.

Alvarez is set to return to the ring in October for his first fight since losing his undisputed super-middleweight titles to Terence Crawford last September.

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The Mexican icon is still one of the biggest superstar names in the sport, and despite his defeat, will always command huge attention particularly in North America.

For his return fight, he is refusing to take a soft touch and is jumping straight back into the deep end.

He will take on newly crowned WBC champion and feared puncher Mbilli, who is one of the sport’s figures with a rapidly growing reputation, in October.

The Cameroon star has nothing to lose, but with an upset victory would send his profile into the stratosphere.

And he believes that clinching a win would cement his name as the division’s top dog.

What has Christian Mbilli‘s promoter said?

His promoter Camille Estephan explained: “I believe Mbilli has what it takes to use this platform to show that he’s number one in the sport.

“His goal is clearly to take the spot of Canelo and I believe he has everything in place to deliver the performance of his life.

“Canelo is in trouble. I believe Canelo wants to fight Mbilli to take back the WBC belt and that is good enough reason.

“Now whether he can take it back or not is a different story.

“Mbilli is not going to Riyadh for anything less than an emphatic victory.”

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Mbilli has some decent wins on his resume, but Alvarez would be far his most sizeable scalp.

What is Alvarez’s plan for his return?

Of course for Canelo he has already achieved everything he set out to achieve in the sport.

But the global icon is still in the hunt for more accolades.

Now 36-years-old but tied down to a deal with Turki Alalshikh, Alvarez has acknowledged his time in the sport is running out.

But if he gets back into the world title mix, he believes he still has a few fights left to continue his quest.

He explained: “I don’t do it because I get big paydays; it’s because I really still enjoy boxing.

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“But there’s nothing out there for me to prove. I’ve accomplished pretty much everything in boxing.

“There’s maybe three or four more fights left for me.”