RIYADH, OCTOBER 2026: His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and President of the Saudi Boxing Federation, today announced the undercard for Canelo Alvarez vs Christian Mbilli, which takes place in Riyadh on October 31 and will be broadcast live on DAZN.
Canelo returns to action a year after his era-defining showdown with Terence Crawford in Las Vegas. The Mexican legend and former undisputed super-middleweight champion will challenge for the WBC title, as he begins the next chapter of his career, following a remarkable reign at super-middleweight that saw him make nine successful defences over almost five years.
In his way, the unbeaten French-Cameroonian champion, making the first defence of his title. Mbilli claimed the interim WBC belt with a victory over Maciej Sulecki in June before being confirmed as full champion in January.
For Mbilli, this bout represents the biggest opportunity of his career to date. The 31-year-old featured on the Canelo-Crawford undercard, where he fought Lester Martinez to a split decision, and will now headline a Riyadh Season event for the first time putting his world title on the line against one of boxing’s biggest stars.
The “Mexico vs Rest of the World” card, sees Canelo joined by several other Mexican fighters, including WBA super-middleweight champion Jaime Munguia (46-2-0), who will defend his title against the unbeaten Russian Nikita Zon (12-0-1). Making his first appearance outside his home country, Zon presents a new challenge for Munguia, who claimed the title in Las Vegas with a victory over Armando Resendiz in May. The fight will mark Munguia’s first defence of the belt.
WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza (28-0-0) will also defend his title against Venezuela’s Lorenzo Parra (24-1-1), the division’s number-one contender. The unbeaten Guadalajara native has successfully retained his belt four times since dethroning Robeisy Ramirez in December 2023, while Parra arrives in Riyadh following an impressive stoppage victory over Elijah Pearce.
Mexico City native David Picasso (32-1-1) faces unbeaten Filipino Carl Martin (28-0-0), the WBO’s number-one super-bantamweight contender, in another significant test for the WBC Silver title holder. Picasso returns to Riyadh following his headline clash with Japanese legend Naoya Inoue last December.
Unbeaten duo Lindolfo Delgado (24-0-0) and Arthur Biyarslanov (21-0-0) will meet for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title. Delgado, who holds the WBO Latino title, looks to become the latest Mexican champion as both fighters make their Riyadh Season debut.
Raymundo Rojas Garcia (16-2-0) will be facing Ring Magazine ambassador Reito Tsutsumi (5-0-0), who has made an impressive start to his professional career in the super-featherweight division, following victory in July on the Joshua vs Prenga undercard in Jeddah.
The remaining four bouts see Marcos Vazquez Rodriguez take on Bek Nurmaganbet, Carlos Emiliano Rojo Vazquez will face Flavius Biea, Hector Aguirre meets Brayan Leon Salgado and Erick Jahir Villegas faces Sultan Almohammed.
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About Riyadh Season
Saudi Arabia’s capital embraces one of the world’s biggest entertainment events every year during winter. Since launching in 2019, Riyadh Season has welcomed millions of visitors from around the world to experience thousands of concerts, sporting events, immersive attractions, and cultural experiences. The festival has evolved into a global entertainment powerhouse, hosting international boxing championships, WWE events, tennis tournaments, concerts
by global superstars, comedy festivals, fashion showcases, and many more large-scale events across the city.
Following the record-breaking success of Riyadh Season 2024, which surpassed 20 million visitors for the first time, Riyadh Season 2025 continued its rapid growth trajectory, attracting more than 17 million visitors across its latest edition as Riyadh continues to be one of the world’s leading entertainment destinations.
About DAZN
DAZN is the world’s leading sports entertainment platform, streaming more than 140,000 live events annually and available in more than 200 markets worldwide. DAZN is the home of European football, women’s football, boxing and MMA, as well as NFL Game Pass and NHL.TV internationally. The platform features many of the biggest sports and leagues from around the world.
In the United States, DAZN offers fans a portfolio of premium sports content anchored by its position as the global home of boxing, with more than 185 fight nights a year from leading promoters. DAZN also delivers a growing selection of multisport content to U.S. audiences.
DAZN is transforming the way people enjoy sport. Through one built-for-sport platform, fans can watch, play, buy and connect. Live and on-demand sports content is available anywhere, in any language and on any device.
