The Canelo–Mbilli Officially Loses World Title Fight

The upcoming Canelo Alvarez–Christian Mbilli event in Riyadh has lost one of its scheduled fights — the IBF super lightweight championship bout between Lindolfo Delgado and Arthur Biyarslanov.

Delgado’s trainer Robert Garcia said Monday that the Mexican contender (24-0, 16 KOs) will not travel to Saudi Arabia, citing security concerns and delays in receiving travel arrangements.

“Why would we risk ourselves going over there without being safe?” Garcia said. “Flying to a different country [Bahrain] and driving 5-6 hours to get to a different location? It’s looking for trouble.”

Saudi Arabia has faced repeated missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi forces. On Monday, the Houthis claimed another attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, while the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted the missiles. The coalition also reported intercepting three ballistic missiles and four drones targeting other parts of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Garcia said his team had received repeated warnings about missile and drone attacks in the region, while organizers had failed to provide flights in sufficient time for Delgado to adjust to the time difference and safely make weight. “And to risk our fighter on top of that? No way,” Garcia said. “Fight’s off.”

Biyarslanov (21-0, 17 KOs) had already arrived in Riyadh, but the proposed contest for the vacant IBF title was absent from the updated fight card circulated Monday.

The event is proceeding despite the withdrawal, with Alvarez challenging Mbilli for the WBC super middleweight championship.

The undercard has also undergone another change, with Ricardo Blandon replacing Lorenzo Parra as WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza’s opponent after Parra was not authorized to compete by the Middle East Professional Boxing Commission.