While nobody can be at all sure what Mexican star Canelo Alvarez might do after his huge September showdown with Terence Crawford, win, lose, or draw, there are a number of young and exciting 168-pounders out there who are hungry for a shot at the unified super middleweight champ.
Mbilli vs. Sheeraz Fight
Two of these red-hot 168-pounders are unbeaten French warrior Christian Mbilli and unbeaten British star in the making Hamzah Sheeraz. And WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman wants to match the two together so as to get a big mandatory challenge for Canelo.
Speaking with Brunch Boxing, Sulaiman said that as Sheeraz defeated Edgar Berlanga in a final eliminator a few days back (this in a superb breakout fight for Sheeraz, in what was both his US and his 168 pound debut), he earned a fight with Mbilli, who claimed the WBC interim belt at 168 with his crushing stoppage win over Maciej Sulecki last month.
“We had a final elimination with Sheeraz against Berlanga, and Sheeraz won, so he earned the right to fight Mbilli,” Sulaiman said. “We want to build a tremendous fight to have a mandatory challenger for the undisputed.”
Mbilli-Sheeraz: Who Wins?
It sure sounds like a good idea, but will Canelo be as keen to fight either Mbilli or Sheeraz? Actually, as Frank Warren said shortly after Sheeraz’s win over Berlanga, he was offered the Canelo fight a while back, but the promoter turned it down as he felt Hamzah was not ready. Now, maybe – hopefully, as it would no doubt be a great action fight – Sheeraz and his team will feel he is ready for Mbilli.
To repeat: Mbilli, 29-0(24) against Sheeraz, 22-0-1(18) is a great fight, but who wins? Let’s hope we get to find out.
It’s highly unlikely that Sheeraz’s promoter, Warren, will agree to such a match-up, because his fighter is already in position to challenge Canelo in early 2026. It’s great that Hamzah defeated Edgar Berlanga, but that guy was a total hype job from the jump. Mbilli has actual talent, and he could expose Sheeraz as well.