Chris Algieri argues that Canelo Alvarez must bring his absolute best to get past Christian Mbilli. His claim that Mbilli’s style naturally plays into Canelo’s hands doesn’t hold up, especially given the challenger’s relentless engine.

Algieri does give Canelo credit for stepping right into danger following surgery and significant time away, acknowledging the grueling physical test awaiting him.

“Can we give him a little respect for coming off a layoff and a surgery right into Mbilli?” Algieri pointed out to DAZN Boxing. “Yes, he has his faults. I think he falls right into Canelo’s style, but what Canelo are we getting? If Canelo is at all degraded, an 80% Canelo probably doesn’t beat Mbilli. He’s got to be top-notch for that fight.”

Even a peak version of Canelo might have struggled with this matchup. While aggressive fighters give Canelo plenty of targets, Mbilli refuses to give up the breathing room Canelo usually buys with crisp counterpunches.

Gennadiy Golovkin applied pressure behind a stiff jab, leaning on heavy single shots. Miguel Cotto relied on movement during the twilight of his prime. Neither fighter swarmed with the sustained, multi-punch bursts that define Mbilli’s game.

Canelo typically hurts opponents until they freeze. They back off, rethink their strategy, let him rest, and wait for his next opening. Mbilli simply ignores that script.

Mbilli isn’t invincible, of course. Charging forward recklessly leaves massive openings, and eating flush counter hooks could quickly check his enthusiasm. Canelo has the precision to make him pay for being aggressive. Yet landing clean shots is vastly different from dictating the tempo. If Mbilli walks through fire and keeps throwing, Canelo has to scramble back into a defensive shell before his lungs catch up with the previous exchange.

Managing that volume would test any elite fighter in his prime. Asking a 36-year-old coming off major surgery and ring rust to endure it is an entirely different proposition. Algieri is spot on about the danger here. His warning that an 80% Canelo falls short might ring true, but treating an ultra-high-volume brawler as tailor-made for him severely understates the threat.

If Canelo cannot discourage Mbilli inside the first four rounds, the math turns ugly very quickly. By round six, when Canelo’s output routinely dips and his feet go flat, he will be forced to shell up against the ropes while Mbilli pounds away at his arms, shoulders, and ribs. Heavy volume wears down legs just as fast as clean headshots, especially for an aging fighter carrying thirteen months of inactivity and repaired joints.

Surviving that kind of physical tax requires supreme conditioning and fluid defensive pivots. If Canelo is stuck playing defense just to survive the onslaught, he will not have the legs or the gas tank left to mount a mid-fight rescue. When a fighter relies strictly on finding one perfect counter shot to bail himself out, every missed swing empties the reserve that much faster.

In 2019, Canelo capitalized on a faded, battle-worn Sergey Kovalev, whose gas tank was depleted, waiting out Kovalev’s tired arm punches until round eleven to land the finishing blow. Now, the dynamic has flipped, and Canelo finds himself occupying the aging fighter’s corner against a younger, relentless pressure puncher.

Kovalev came into the fight at 36 with heavy miles and well-documented physical wear, and Canelo is carrying an even larger cumulative toll. With more than two decades in the professional ranks, chronic joint issues, and elbow surgery following a year on the shelf, the engine simply cannot turn over the way it once did.

The pattern across the Jaime Munguia, Edgar Berlanga, William Scull, and Terence Crawford bouts showed a fighter relying almost entirely on bursts, resting for extended stretches, and depending on defensive posturing to steal rounds on ring generalship. Against Crawford, the inability to sustain offense or dictate the terms of engagement laid bare what happens when elite opposition refuses to grant Canelo those customary rest periods.

Against Mbilli, relying on selective counterpunching becomes a dangerous gamble. Landing a crisp left hook or a sharp uppercut only helps if it forces the incoming fighter to step back, reset, and second-guess their entry. If Mbilli treats every clean counter as a cue to unload another four-punch salvo to the body, Canelo will never get the pauses he needs to recharge.

Tim Bradley believes a matchup between David Benavidez and Jai Opetaiathe two leading cruiserweights, is much less competitive than most would anticipate it being.

While nothing is set in stone, the pair have verbally agreed to collide on Cinco de Mayo weekend in 2027, with Benavidez seemingly willing to put his world titles on the line.

The ‘Mexican Monster’ became a three-division world champion in May, dethroning Gilberto Ramirez with a sixth-round stoppage for the WBO and WBA belts at 200lbs.

His next outing, meanwhile, is expected to be a unification match with WBC champion Michal Cieslak in December, when Opetaia could also return to action following his ninth-round stoppage of Noel Mikaelian last month.

The Australian has, in other words, been in talks to move up to heavyweight and face former WBC champion Deontay Wilder, potentially featuring on the Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua undercard at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

It remains to be seen whether this will actually take place on December 11, however, as Opetaia may instead look to preserve himself for a Benavidez showdown.

Speaking of which, Hall of Famer Bradley has told Ring Magazine that he maintains his belief that the 29-year-old would dominate the equally unbeaten Opetaia.

“Benavidez is going to motorboat his face with them punches and combinations, man. Okay, he’s been hurt [by previous opponents].

“But then what [does] he do? He finishes them; he destroys them. That’s what Benavidez does. Just because you get hurt don’t mean you weak.”

In terms of Benavidez showing signs of vulnerability, he has only ever been dropped by David Morrell and Ronald Gavril and, even then, these were more flash knockdowns than anything else.

Jaron Ennis is looking to capture the undisputed super-welterweight title within the next 12 months, and whilst many fans deem a potential bout against Sebastian Fundora to be his biggest obstacle, ‘Boots’ thinks his main concern is an alternate 154lb rival.

Ennis knocked out Xander Zayas to claim the WBA and WBO super-welterweight titles in a performance of the year candidate back at the Barclays Center in New York back in June, abandoning a possible super-fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr in order to pursue all four titles.

First, the Philadelphian seems poised to collide with IBF titleholder Josh Kelly, with that unification clash anticipated to take place in January in the United States.

The victor is then expected to meet with WBC titlist Fundora – who defended his world title with a final-second knockout triumph over Ermal Hadribeaj on Saturday – in mid-2027 in a battle to determine the second four-belt champion in the division’s history, after Jermell Charlo.

Yet, whilst stateside fans are currently debating whether the size of Fundora would be an issue for Ennis, ‘Boots’ told DAZN during the Fundora-Hadribeaj broadcast that he believes Kelly to be his toughest opponent in the super-welterweight division.

“The toughest [fight at 154]? I would say Josh Kelly. He can box, he can move, this is what everybody says that I can’t do! I am going to show y’all.”

Ennis-Kelly is close to being finalised for early Januarywith the State Farm Arena in Atlanta understood to be the most likely location for the event.