Berlanga, who lost a unanimous decision to Alvarez in September 2024, dismissed Mbilli’s chances of defeating the Mexican icon when they fight for the WBC super middleweight title October 31 at a venue to be announced. In fact, Brooklyn’s Berlanga wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Alvarez, a 3-1 favorite according to DraftKings, knocked out the aggressive Cameroonian champion.

“I truly believe that Canelo could stop him,” Berlanga told The Ring. “I think that Mbilli is nothing special. To me, he’s a guy that comes forward, has good conditioning and throws a lot of punches. But when it comes to IQ, I seen him fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, who literally had one hand and almost stopped him. He had one arm. He had torn his [biceps] in the fight. So, that just goes to show where he’s at as a fighter. But overall, I think it’s gonna be a great fight. I just got Canelo beating him.”

Mbilli beat Ukraine’s Derevyanchenko (16-7, 11 KOs) by unanimous decision in a 10-round bout that took place in August 2024 in Quebec City.

Guadalajara’s Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) hasn’t boxed since Terence Crawford beat him unanimously on points almost 11 months ago in Las Vegas. Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) settled for a 10-round split draw with gritty Guatemalan contender Lester Martinez (20-0-1, 16 KOs) in his last bout, which was part of the Alvarez-Crawford undercard.

Alvarez, 36, and Mbilli, 31, were initially slated to meet September 12 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The fight was postponed for seven weeks, reportedly because Alvarez needed to tend to an undisclosed family matter.

Alvarez is The Ring’s No. 1 contender for an unclaimed super middleweight crown Crawford gave up when he retired in December. Mbilli is ranked No. 3 by The Ring, behind Alvarez and Cuban knockout artist Osleys Iglesias (15-0, 14 KOs).

Berlanga expects Alvarez to prove versus Mbilli that he is capable of becoming boxing’s fully unified 168-pound champion again.

“I think [a win will show] he’s back and he’s gonna try to capture all the titles again, and try to become undisputed,” Berlanga said. “I truly believe that the fight between me and him, we could make a [rematch]. Me and Canelo is gonna be another big fight that could happen on the horizon. I’ve just got to win a title. I’ve got to beat a big name and then I think that fight is right there for us to make.”

Berlanga (24-2, 19 KOs) stopped Canadian veteran Steven Butler (38-6-1, 32 KOs) in the seventh round of his return from a one-year layoff July 26 in New York. That victory came in Berlanga’s first fight since England’s Hamzah Sheeraz (24-0-1, 19 KOs), who later won the WBO 168-pound crown, knocked him out in the fifth round of their July 2025 bout.