Former two-division world champion Paulie Malignaggi has openly reassessed and rated Canelo Alvarez’s recent unanimous decision victory over Christian Mbilli, gracefully walking back his pre-fight predictions after initially backing the underdog to pull off an upset in their high-stakes super-middleweight showdown.
The compelling championship clash took place last Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, drawing the attention of the global boxing community. For Christian Mbilli, the bout represented a massive career milestone as he stepped into the ring to make the very first defense of the WBC super-middleweight title. Mbilli had acquired the full championship status by virtue of an administrative upgrade from "interim" to full champion, a transition triggered by significant shifts in the 168-pound division late last year.
That division-shaking landscape shift occurred last December when pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford announced his retirement from the sport. Upon walking away from the game, Crawford officially vacated all four of the major 168-pound world titles that he had worked so hard to capture. Crawford had earned those belts a few months earlier by pulling off a stunning victory over Canelo Alvarez, moving up two weight classes to dethrone the Mexican icon in a tactical masterclass that ended in a unanimous decision.
Yet, boxing is a sport defined by redemption arcs and immediate adjustments. Canelo, eager to reassert his dominance and reclaim a share of the throne he had occupied for so long, wasted little time in positioning himself back at the top of the division. By securing a dominant unanimous decision victory against the hard-charging Christian Mbilli in Riyadh, Canelo successfully reclaimed a quarter of his former undisputed crown, proving that his elite competitive instincts remain as sharp as ever.
Prior to their high-profile encounter in Saudi Arabia, analysts and former fighters were deeply divided on how the bout would unfold. Among them was Paulie Malignaggi, who had offered a rather critical assessment of Canelo’s condition and recent performances. Malignaggi pointed specifically to Canelo’s lackluster showing against Terence Crawford, a fight where the Mexican star had appeared unusually subdued and, in Malignaggi’s words, "passive." Based on that observation, the former world champion had boldly predicted that the 36-year-old veteran would ultimately struggle to contain the relentless pressure and sheer intensity of a younger, hungrier opponent like Mbilli.
However, the reality inside the squared circle in Riyadh told a entirely different story. Canelo put on a masterclass in distance, timing, and ring generalship, handily outboxing Mbilli over the course of the championship distance and neutralizing the challenger’s formidable offensive output. Witnessing Canelo’s tactical brilliance up close prompted Malignaggi to take to his YouTube channel to offer a candid reassessment, openly admitting that the Mexican legend looked vastly more impressive this time around than he had during his humbling defeat to Crawford.
Reflecting on the technical nuances of the fight in his video analysis, Malignaggi highlighted how Canelo managed to impose his will and make his most significant offensive maneuvers pay off. "If you’re gonna sell illusions … at a certain point, you do have to make them count. And what I’m saying is: Canelo did make them count. He made that uppercut count at times; he made that whipping right hand count at times," Malignaggi explained to his online audience.
The former champion continued to break down the veteran qualities that allowed Canelo to secure the victory, emphasizing that while Mbilli may not have possessed the supreme technical artistry of some of Canelo’s previous elite rivals, the nature of the win carried immense weight due to the context in which it occurred. "I felt like Canelo did a lot of good things — a lot of veteran, savvy things. Mbilli was never going to be the most talented guy Canelo fought, but the reason I rate this win is because of the timing," Malignaggi stated.
When Malignaggi refers to "timing," he is not simply talking about the literal split-second reflexes required to land a punch, though Canelo’s timing was undeniably pristine throughout the night. Rather, he is speaking to the broader timeline of Canelo’s storied professional career. At this advanced stage, with countless grueling championship wars and professional miles on his body, Canelo deserves immense credit for his ability to completely adapt, figure out, and ultimately nullify a fighter whose entire identity is built around being a high-volume, relentless pressure fighter like Mbilli.
By systematically breaking down Mbilli’s rhythm and weathering the early storms, Canelo not only secured a crucial victory on the scorecards to recapture a piece of the super-middleweight championship landscape, but he also forced respected critics like Malignaggi to entirely revise their outlook on his remaining capabilities in the elite tier of the sport.
