The boxing promoter and director of Top Rank, Bob Arum, issued critical comments regarding the current sports situation of Saúl Canelo Álvarez. The boxing industry businessman assured that the Mexican fighter is in the final stretch of his career and suggested that he should abandon professional rings in the short term.

These statements are presented prior to the championship fight that the boxer from Jalisco will hold against the super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli. Arum, whose company co-promotes the European boxer, reduced the Guadalajara athlete's chances of success for this fight scheduled for next fall.

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“Álvarez belongs on the golf course, not the ring,” Arum declared in an interview with the specialized magazine The Ring to detail his position on the boxer's physical condition.

"I think Álvarez is finished. I have no idea if Álvarez should retire or not, but I like Mbilli in the fight," the American promoter said about the 168-pound category match.

The technical analysis after the loss to Crawford

The opinion of the promoter's leader is based on the performance shown by Canelo Álvarez during his last official appearance in Las Vegas, which occurred on September 13, 2025. On that evening, the Mexican lost his super middleweight world titles by unanimous decision against the American boxer Terence Crawford.

For the Top Rank promoter, the outcome of that fight did not represent a technical surprise within the division's planning. The manager emphasized that Crawford's conditions showed an evident tactical superiority on the canvas during the entire rounds played.

“I'm not surprised that Álvarez looked bad against Crawford,” Arum detailed to The Ring when evaluating the performance of both boxers in the ring. "Terence is a great boxer. Canelo has been a tough guy and a good boxer, but not a great boxer at the level of Crawford, who is totally unique and very skilled. Crawford has the measure taken for all of them," added the director of the promotion company.

The current panorama of the super middleweight category

Canelo Álvarez's inactivity has been extended for a period of close to a year due to the mandatory pause due to reconstructive surgery on his left elbow last October.

This absence made it easier for the World Boxing Council to elevate the fighter Christian Mbilli to the status of absolute champion of the category.

The confrontation scheduled for the month of October will mark the first time since the 2015 season in which the Mexican fighter will enter the ring as an official challenger without holding world belts.

Canelo Álvarez's return to training camps will define the tactical preparation with which he will seek to refute questions about his validity in paid boxing.