Alvarez comfortably beat Christian Mbilli by unanimous decision to become a three-time super middleweight crownholder on Saturday.

Alvarez appeared unbothered for most of the matchup by the hard-charging Mbilli, who delivered a diet version of his relentless, volume-punching attack. Those efforts only resulted in Alvarez countering him with crushing combinations en route to a comfortable points win via scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112.

Here are five takeaways from the "Mexico vs. The World" show that took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Alvarez's championship days aren't done. After his unanimous decision defeat to Terence Crawford in September 2025, questions no longer lingered about whether his best days were behind him.

Instead, it was about what version of the battle-tested warrior would remain during his career's twilight.

Alvarez (64-3-2, 39 KOs) emphatically answered questions with efficiency and ease against an unbeaten titleholder and much younger opponent representing a legitimate threat.

Alvarez demonstrated that his hand speed, timing, defensive instincts and powerful counterpunching can still operate at a high level. He connected with 158 punches (132 power shots) and absorbed 117 from Mbilli, according to CompuBox.

As for what's next, Alvarez could potentially be the division's ace yet again. Could he beat David Benavidez or a prime Gennadiy Golovkin today? No. Crawford or Dmitry Bivol in rematches? Probably not.

But if there isn't any serious slippage in his game, the last handful of fights remaining in Alvarez's illustrious career could all be winnable considering the landscape across middle and super middleweight divisions.

Just don't expect him to take a cakewalk for his next ring walk, which could come as early as February and against undefeated IBF champion Osleys Iglesias, WBC interim titleholder Lester Martinez, or top-rated contender Hamzah Sheeraz.

He's a 36-year-old, 21-year veteran. The former 154, 160, and 175 champion, two-time 168-pound undisputed titlist and former pound-for-pound king has 544 rounds under his belt.

His next fight will be the 70th of his Hall of Fame-bound career. Alvarez is 7-2 since 2022, with each fight reaching the distance since his knockout win against Caleb Plant in November 2021, a victory earning him undisputed status at 168 pounds for the first time and Fighter of the Year.

Although Alvarez can undoubtedly oust inferior opposition with ease, he's still taking on top talent during his career's final chapter. He's earned the right to dictate who and where he fights as he heads toward the sunset.

He was supposed to present his prototypical fighting style of relentless pressure, volume punching and physicality, attributes making him such a difficult opponent and live underdog.

But Mbilli's elite offensive output wasn't operating at its peak as it did in his previous fight, a spirited split draw against Lester Martinez.

That's because Alvarez is an all-time great who commanded respect and was nowhere near the lesser competition that Mbilli faced over his last three outings in Martinez, Maciej Sulecki and Sergiy Derevyanchenko.

Mbilli threw 787 punches and connected with 273 shots in 10 rounds against Martinez but landed with just 117 of his 344 punches over 12 rounds against Alvarez.

Alvarez gradually figured out Mbilli and neutralized him off the back foot with thudding counterpunching power, keeping the defending champion honest. Mbilli also became one-dimensional and struggled to adjust when his pressure stopped producing results in the second half.

Mbilli (29-1-1, 24 KOs) came in as The Ring's No. 3 contender and can certainly still make a name for himself in the middle of the division's pack. His fighting style will prove to be a better fit against Mexicans Armando Resendiz and Jaime Munguia.

May I have your attention, please?

Will the real Jaime Munguia please stand up?

I repeat: Will the real Jaime Munguia please stand up?

As rapper Eminem once said, we're gonna have a problem here.

Munguia's defensive deficiencies reared its ugly head again when his chin was checked against Nikita Zon in the co-main event. The WBA super middleweight titleholder survived a serious scare in the sixth, a round of the year contender, to outpoint the little-known Russian and massive underdog.

Seemingly bouncing up and down as if on a Pogo stick for most of the fight, Munguia absorbed a huge right uppercut followed by a barrage of big blows that had him rocking and reeling around the ring to begin the sixth.

Munguia never held and just fought back, enough to the point where he was dishing equal punishment by the end.

The incredible exchange was exceptionally enthralling and entertaining, but sequences like that against top-flight competition will likely see Munguia (47-2, 35 KOs) on the wrong end of another knockout loss.

Munguia's career feels like it's one step forward and two steps back of late. Over the last three-plus years, he's been busy but not always in the win column, either.

The 32-year-old champion outpointed Derevyanchenko in a June 2023 war before stopping John Ryder in nine rounds seven months later. On Cinco de Mayo weekend, though, Alvarez dropped and soundly beat him.

From there, it was even more unpredictable. He rebounded by stopping Erik Bazinyan 10 rounds into their competitive clash, but was stunned by a one-punch knockout loss to Bruno Surace in a Tijuana homecoming.

Munguia managed to avenge it on the Canelo-William Scull undercard during a PED-clouded rematch in May 2025 before outclassing Resendiz for WBA honors 12 months later.

Munguia's last three fights have also been with coach Eddy Reynoso. While both parties insist improvements have been made, there are still some serious flaws and fissures in his game.

If Saturday night's version of Munguia shows up against mandatory challenger and crafty undefeated Uzbek Bektemir Melikuziev, his title reign could be short-lived.

He seemingly wore out his vocal cords more from magnificently crooning Mexican songs before and after his WBO featherweight title defense than he did from belting Ricardo Blandon.

Espinoza sliced and diced the late replacement Blandon for an easy third-round stoppage win on the undercard.

The 6-foot-1 Espinoza is certainly an all-world talent and Rubik's Cube at 126 pounds the same way the tall and lanky Sebastian Fundora is for junior middleweights.

But after beating Robeisy Ramirez for the title in December 2023, Espinoza (29-0, 25 KOs) has defended the belt against Sergio Chirino Sanchez, a Ramirez rematch, Edward Vazquez, Arnold Khegai and Blandon, who replaced Lorenzo Parra.

The dance partners for "Divino" Espinoza definitely aren't divine, especially for a fighter trying to lure pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue into his featherweight debut.

In the meantime, Espinoza can no longer keep singing the same tune in crushing second-rate opposition — 2027 needs to be all about title unification bouts to make him the division's monster.

Espinoza and WBC champion Bruce Carrington are promoted by Top Rank and ranked as The Ring's top two for the vacant title, so let's begin there with a beautiful unification that should have the boxing public hitting the high notes.