Tim Bradley believes this weekend’s showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Christian Mbilli is going to end in a knockout.
Alvarez challenges Mbilli for his WBC super-middleweight title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, in what serves as the first time both men have been back in the ring since competing on the same bill in September 2025.
That event in Las Vegas saw Canelo lose his undisputed super-middleweight crown to Terence Crawford, while Mbilli was held to a draw with Lester Martinez in a WBC interim title fight on the undercard.
Mbilli was later elevated to full champion after Crawford retired from the sport and vacated his belts, and the 31-year-old makes the first defence of that belt when he goes up against Canelo.
Bradley believes it may not be a successful first defence though, as he told DAZN that he believes Alvarez is capable of getting a late knockout victory.
“Mbilli is going to be available for everything, upper cuts, body shots, left hooks. The activity of Mbilli can be bothersome I’m not going to lie, and if Canelo punches him and can’t hurt him and can’t get his respect, Mbilli is in the fight.
“I feel like Canelo will be sitting down and those shots and be softening him up a bit. Canelo might even take a few and catch a few and then land something big, hurt him and maybe even stop him late.”
If Canelo is to win by knockout, it will be the first time since his 11th round stoppage win over Caleb Plant in 2021 that he has had a fight end inside the distance, with all eight of his bouts since then going the full 12 rounds.
