Lindolfo Delgado is off the October 31 Canelo Alvarez–Christian Mbilli undercard in Riyadh, according to Lance Pugmire, after trainer Robert Garcia publicly questioned the safety of traveling to Saudi Arabia.

“Told definitively that Delgado is off the Saudi card,” Lance Pugmire posted on X.

Delgado was scheduled to face Arthur Biyarslanov for the vacant IBF light welterweight title. His absence follows days of uncertainty over travel arrangements against a backdrop of attacks on Saudi airports.

An October 21 U.S. Embassy security alert reported that operations at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh remained suspended. A separate travel advisory urged Americans to reconsider visiting Saudi Arabia because of drone and missile threats. Those warnings provide substantial context for the concerns Garcia raised before Delgado’s removal.

Garcia had spoken about his worries over taking Delgado and his team into the country while they still lacked travel arrangements. NY Fights reported those comments on October 22, several days before Pugmire’s update.

That makes this more serious than an ordinary fight-week cancellation. A boxer can spend months preparing for a championship opportunity and still face a decision that has little to do with the opponent across the ring. The importance of the belt does not remove the risks involved in reaching the venue.

Robert Garcia made the only sensible move a trainer can make in that spot. When a fighter enters title contention, the camp has to deal with enough variables inside the ropes without having to worry about closed airports, missile alerts, and basic travel logistics falling apart on fight week.

Pushing a fighter onto a plane under those conditions, especially with the U.S. Embassy issuing formal warnings in Riyadh, would have been reckless.

Biyarslanov has already arrived in Saudi Arabia, according to BoxingScene’s earlier reporting. He now faces uncertainty over whether he will fight Saturday and whether the vacant championship will remain available to him on this card.

Pugmire’s brief post does not specify the final decision-making process within Delgado’s camp or establish what happens to his IBF opportunity.

The organizers now have a missing title challenger days before the event. Finding another boxer may fill the slot, but it would not answer the travel and safety questions Garcia raised before Delgado was ruled out.