In Canelo Alvarez's win over Christian Mbilli, old is new again

Overseeing the reconstruction of Canelo Alvarez was a nuanced, multifaceted project that extended a career that some skeptics contended was over.

Canelo trainer Eddy Reynoso provided BoxingScene a detailed review of the events that propelled Mexico’s Alvarez, 64-3-2 (39 KOs), to Saturday’s unanimous decision victory over Christian Mbilli to recapture the WBC super middleweight belt in conflict-endangered Saudi Arabia.

The performance went so deep that it showcased defensive fundamentals the fighter first learned as “Little Canelo,” around the time Reynoso first nicknamed the teen with cinnamon-colored hair.

“Over time, we had stopped doing the things we did – actually, we had forgot about them,” Reynoso said. “So you saw old and new Canelo, back to when he was 15 years old.”

Relying on that old-school defense and sharpened counterpunching, Alvarez muted the toe-to-toe action style Mbilli engaged in last year when he produced a Fight of the Year candidate versus unbeaten Lester Martinez.

And Alvarez, at 36, moved beyond his 2025 loss to Terence Crawford to defeat Mbilli by scores of 116-111, 117-110, 115-112 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, collecting a reported $40-million-plus purse and positioning himself for other lucrative dates.

“We hope for a rematch with Crawford because this Canelo can beat anyone,” Reynoso said. “He can beat Crawford.”

Crawford, 42-0 (31 KOs), retired less than three months after defeating Alvarez by unanimous decision, praising him Monday on X by posting: “Canelo is cold. I’ve always been a fan of cinnamon! … He was taking a lot of fighters’ ‘0’ from them [including Mbilli]. Salute champ. It was a honor to share the ring with you, champ.”

Reynoso said recent 168lbs titleholder Hamzah Sheeraz and new IBF belt holder Osleys Iglesias are also potential targets, while indicating that unbeaten WBC interim titlist Martinez will need to wait.

“What he did with Mbilli … he’s on the right path,” Reynoso said of Martinez. “He deserves competition. He’s hungry. His time will come.”

What awaits can wait, for now, as Team Canelo basks in its comeback.

“The main thing was [coming to the fight with] no injuries, no complications,” Reynoso said, nodding to the wrist and elbow pains that compromised Canelo’s efforts in losses to Crawford and current light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.

By choosing to spend several weeks training in Spain with access to unbeaten former two-division undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk, Alvarez savored a devoted training camp that kept him “humbled,” Reynoso said.

“The doctors there were amazing. All the exercises were for the good of boxing and body. It gave us the best advantage,” Reynoso said. “We fixed so many problems. It’s why we looked better.”

By inspecting old videos and seeing how a prime Alvarez performed, Reynoso reasoned, “defense was the main concern” for Mbilli since “this boxer was strong and coming with a lot of volume.

“From the first round, [Alvarez] got the proper distance he wanted, and knew he was going to be able to do anything he wanted with counterpunching.

“I knew it, I knew it … [Mbilli] couldn’t work past the strategy of Saul. Mbilli was lost. He couldn’t solve the defense.”

For both Alvarez and Reynoso, the showing provided exhilaration following a camp baked with uncertainty and doubts from pundits speculating this might be the defeat that sends Alvarez into retirement.

“It was very complicated. It was a question mark,” Reynoso told BoxingScene on Tuesday, his first morning back in the U.S. in weeks. “His age? How the fight would go? So many years doing this … it was the question throughout camp: What’s left with Canelo?

“After that [undisputed title] loss with Crawford, Saul was just really, really sad. Thinking about that, he trained like a rookie. And not fighting for a year helped.

“But after he trained so hard, we can say we’re back. We are back!”

Alvarez unleashed a joyous shout as ring announcer Michael Buffer read off the scores and revealed Alvarez was “the new …”

The release came after Alvarez told a boxing associate he was willing to go to hell to retrieve his title belt, a stance that was true in the eyes of some who balked at venturing to Saudi Arabia, where the Iran-backed Yemen rebel group Houthis had sent fatal missile and drone attacks at Riyadh in the days leading up to the fight.

Back-to-back Trainer of the Year Robert Garcia and his 140lbs title challenger Lindolfo Delgado opted not to make the trip.

Reynoso, the 2019 and 2021 Trainer of the Year, opted to make the trip, and his fighters – Alvarez, super middleweight titleholder Jaime Munguia and featherweight belt holder Rafael Espinoza – all won title fights Saturday.

“We saw who wasn’t there,” Reynoso said. “One of the main things we believe is, you never cry before you get hit. We are all professionals. We all accomplished our mission.”

Reynoso acknowledged that the 13 deaths at the Riyadh airport and constant warnings of potential attacks distracted fight teams and Saudi organizers during fight week.

“When you’re a professional, you have to inject all your fighters – Canelo, Munguia, ‘Divino’ [Espinoza] – with the idea you need big balls to do your job, no matter what,” Reynoso said.

“You need balls to do this, not to carry Pampers in your bag. It’s about being professional, being responsible.”

With victory secured and safety assured back home, Reynoso said he truly hopes the Crawford-Alvarez rematch can occur.

“We know the respect Terence Crawford has for Saul,” Reynoso said. “He needs that second fight. Boxing needs that fight.

“I’m very proud of Saul for all that he’s accomplished.”