Ahead of his October 31 title fight against Christian Mbilli in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Canelo Alvarez moved his training camp from San Diego to Oleksandr Usyk's gym in Gandia, Spain. The city is just one hour behind Riyadh, compared with a 10-hour gap from San Diego, which helped him adjust to the local time zone.
Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs) is aiming to reclaim the WBC super middleweight title he lost to Terence Crawford in September 2025. In an exclusive interview with ESPN Deportes editor Ernesto Rodarte, he said the Crawford defeat taught him that at this level the gap between winning and losing can be very small, even when a fighter trains fully, if the mind is not completely focused.
Asked what Mbilli must do to surprise him, Canelo said the challenger has to do a lot. He described Mbilli as a great fighter with considerable stamina who throws many punches, but argued that he has never faced someone with Canelo's characteristics or experience. Canelo said the fight could be one of the most demanding of his recent career.
Canelo also discussed retirement, saying he could keep fighting for much longer given how his body feels and recent tests. He indicated he may have three or four more fights left, while noting that he has goals beyond boxing.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing