Alvarez signed a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season in February 2025, and the matchup against Mbilli will mark the third since that agreement began. Alvarez beat William Scull in May 2025 to kickstart the lucrative deal and followed it up with a super fight against Terence Crawford in September 2025.

The Mexican superstar suffered a unanimous-decision defeat against Crawford and lost his Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles. Alvarez underwent left elbow surgery the following month and hasn’t fought in 13 months, his longest layoff in six years.

“I want to fight quickly, like in February, something like that,” Alvarez said in an interview with The Ring’s Mike Coppinger. “And then we’ll see what’s next.”

Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) was originally supposed to face Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) on September 12 in Riyadh. The date was changed so Alvarez could tend to personal matters.

“I wasn’t ready,” Alvarez said. “I had problems with the family I needed to fix and everything. I like to have a pre-camp and then come to the training camp. That’s why I postponed the fight because I learned from the past. I always say, ‘No, I can do it.’ And then that’s when the loss came for me.

“But now I’ve learned I can postpone the fight. I postponed the fight. Why not? I was not ready to train. Everything needs to be there because you say, ‘Yeah, I can handle this.’ But there is a small difference between a win and a loss, so I learned that.”

To prepare for Mbilli, Alvarez has switched training camp locations to Gandia, Spain, instead of his preferred training locales across California and Mexico.

“Wherever the place is for training, I’m in,” Alvarez said. “I’m always enjoying the process. This is different, and I’m happy because it’s something different. I’m experiencing something different. For me, it’s the same everywhere. When I go to train, I focus 100 percent on training. And here, I have my routine, and I am focused on the fight.”

As far as the future, in addition to another fight in less than four months, high atop Alvarez’s wish list is headlining an event in the “Land of the Rising Sun.”

“I hope I have the opportunity to fight in Japan,” Alvarez said. “It’s one of my dreams because I grew up with Oscar Larios, and he fought with a lot of Japanese guys, and I saw him. For me it’s a dream to fight in Japan. I hope it happens. If not, it’s fine, but it’s one of my dreams. I hope I can accomplish that.”

The 36-year-old Alvarez also wants to headline a show at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium and in the United Kingdom before bidding farewell to boxing.

“I always want to put on a great show, do my best in the ring, and win the fight,” Alvarez said. “It’s important to always be a world champion. I’ve been a world champion for so many years, so this is the first time I’m going to be a challenger against Mbilli. It’s not familiar to me, but I always feel like a champion.

“I don’t have anything to prove because I know who I am. I know how much I accomplished in boxing. I know how I feel. I still enjoy boxing. I love boxing, and that’s why I’m here.”

Alvarez-Mbilli will headline The Ring’s “Mexico vs. The World” show two weeks from Saturday. DAZN will offer the card to subscribers of its Ultimate plan and on pay-per-view for non-subscribers.

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.