Canada’s boxing history is consumed by foreign imports.
Haitian-born Jean Pascal and Adonis Stevenson both won and defended world titles in Montreal and Quebec City. Rampaging Romanian IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute made a home for his professional career in Quebec, with 30 of his 37 fights in the province’s two biggest cities. Eye of the Tiger’s Montreal-based Camille Estephan has similar plans for Cameroon-born Frenchman Christian Mbilli.
“The vision for Christian is that he will be the A-side at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City,” Estephan said in an exclusive interview with FightsATW. “That’s where we want him to fight, so that is what we are doing. It holds twenty thousand people.”
The 27-0 (23 KOs) super middleweight, who recently signed a co-promotional deal with Top Rank, continues his five-fight run in Canada against Ukraine’s Sergiy Derevyanchenko at the Centre Videotron in Quebec City on August 17. “I think Derevyanchenko is one of the best fighters in the world who doesn’t have a title now,” Estephan explained. “He has an amateur record of 390 wins and 20 losses. I think he was 22-1 in the WSB [World Series of Boxing]. He’s now 15-5 [as a professional]. Those five losses are against guys who were either former world champions or have become world champions since. When you look closer at his losses, there were a couple that were very controversial, and some were very close. Against [Gennadiy] Golovkin there was a score of 113-114.
“This is a very big test. If Christian does what we think he can do, well then, we are near the top of the food chain. Canelo [Alvarez] or whoever is on top will have to fight him; the fans will want it. The response has been so amazing to the Derevyanchenko announcement, it will be a good night in August. It will definitely be a war, a war of attrition type of thing, but Christian now has all the tools for any man at super middleweight. We are very confident, I saw him yesterday, and he’s very focused and motivated. He still wants Canelo, and he wants to show that he still deserves Canelo. Derevyanchenko is the best option for him to show that.”
Mbilli made short work of England’s Mark Heffron with a folding body shot, ending the fight in just 40 seconds. The 27-year-old took the headline spot last month in Shawinigan. He continues the A-side trend against three-time world title challenger Derevyanchenko. “Christian was ready to take him out,” Estephan said of Heffron. “He came in with killer instinct! This guy has a very, very focused approach to his boxing. He’s disciplined with how he applies his strategies. The shot was one we worked on in camp, and we got him with it.”
Former British champion Heffron posed a far cry from the 168-pound division’s undisputed champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Mbilli is ranked second and third for all four of Canelo’s belts. He’s been at the top of the call-out list since the start of the year.
“It doesn’t matter who they might be facing,” Estephan continued, “I always stress about having a good camp. He’s been chasing [Jaime] Munguia, Canelo and the bigger names. Then we have to fight the lesser names, but he understands the philosophy that we have to keep moving and keep improving. So, he doesn’t only prepare for the fight he has coming up, he’s also preparing for the big one when it may come.
“Christian has the power. He’s very aggressive. He is must-see TV! The best way to describe him is that whoever is at the top, we want to take him out. Whether it is Canelo, whether it is Munguia, whoever it is, we want that spot. Christian wants all the belts. He has the potential to be a very, very big star. We are doing everything we can to bring him those opportunities. Derevyanchenko is one of those missing pieces right now. Having said that, when it comes to the economics of fighting Canelo, it does matter, but we would much rather fight him with all the titles.”
Derevyanchenko (15-5, 10 KOs) scored a lopsided unanimous decision victory over Vaughn Alexander on April 20. The 38-year-old had previously faced Munguia and lost by a narrow decision in his super middleweight debut last June. “At the end of the day, we have a lot of respect for Derevyanchenko,” Estephan added. “We are not looking past him. This is a very important piece, and we have to take care of it. Ultimately, we feel we have the guy that can dominate the 168 pound division for a long time. That’s what we want to prove.”
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