Canelo Alvarez is a world champion again. He beat Christian Mbilli by unanimous decision in Riyadh on Saturday night to take back the WBC super middleweight title, with the judges scoring it 115-112, 116-111 and 117-110.
This was Canelo’s first fight in more than a year, the longest layoff of his career, and his first since Terence Crawford took the undisputed super middleweight crown off him last year. Mbilli came in as the champion, unbeaten at 29-0-1, and left with the first loss of his career.
It was not a brawl. Canelo outlanded Mbilli 158 to 117 and controlled the second half of the fight, and the one strange moment came from the referee: Mbilli lost a point for hitting behind the head after Canelo complained it had happened three times.
115-112, 116-111, 117-110. All three cards for Canelo, and the belt goes back to Mexico.
The win moves Canelo to 64-3-2. He said afterward he would rest before deciding what comes next, which is what a 36-year-old who just won his title back gets to say.
See also: Former UFC fighter Makhmud Muradov beat six men from the same family in Prague and Cain Velasquez says he “lost the will to live” before the chase that sent him to prison.