Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez is a WBC champion again. The Mexican star defeated Christian Mbilli by unanimous decision Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, reclaiming the WBC super-middleweight title in the main event of a Ring Magazine card.

Per the Associated Press account, Alvarez leaned on precise counterpunching and a strong second-half performance to pull away from Mbilli, a pressure fighter who came in as one of the division's most dangerous challengers. The pattern was classic Canelo: absorb the early pace, read the openings, then make the championship rounds his own.

BBC Sport called it a vintage performance, and the description fits the stakes. Alvarez spent years as the undisputed ruler of the 168-pound division, and Saturday's win restores a piece of that collection — the WBC belt — to its longtime owner.

For Mbilli, the loss stings but the resume survives; taking Alvarez the distance in a title fight keeps him in the super-middleweight picture. For Canelo, the victory in Riyadh reasserts the obvious: even at this stage of his career, the division still runs through him.