The much talked about super middleweight hopeful Christian Mbilli (27-0, 23 KOs) will collide with two-time world title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko in the main event Saturday night, streaming live on ESPN.
The show from the Centre Videotron in Quebec City will see Canadian promotional powerhouse Eye of the Tiger collaborate with Top Rank. The Frenchman’s destructive performance against Rohan Murdock on the Artur Beterbiev–Callum Smith undercard at the same venue, secured the alliance to oversee an expected takeover of the 168-pound division.
Trainer Marc Ramsay, who lured the 21-year-old novice to his Montreal-based gym, has rated Mbilli’s ability alongside current IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev. Promoter Camille Estephan sees Mbilli’s headline act at the 18,000-seater Videotron as a fork in the road. It’s a gateway bout intended to see his charge bring big time boxing back to Quebec’s extensive and loyal fanbase. “All you have do is look at the January show, we had 10,000 people there,” Estephan said. “If you were there, you would have seen they were there early. At 6 pm, we had 4,000 people there. At 7:30 pm, we had 6,000 people in the building. They come for all the fights. It truly is a boxing city, and we have everything to bring the big fights here.”
The likes of Adonis Stevenson, Jean Pascal, and Lucian Bute were bringing big world title fights to Quebec around the time Mbilli emigrated to Montreal in 2017. His arrival in Canada would coincide with Bute calling an end to a career where he defended the IBF super middleweight nine times in Quebec, and long-reigning light heavyweight King Stevenson’s career would abruptly end in an eleventh-round knockout defeat to Oleksandr Gvozdyk later the following year.
Despite the marquee fights not gracing Canada consistently until 2018, boxing north of the border has an abundance of world-ranked international fighters appearing on Thursday night events every month. However, the provenance needs a new star, and Mbilli is expected to fill the void.
“I think it is going to be a great fight,” Mbilli told FightsATW. “I just can’t wait to get back in the ring. Derevyanchenko is the most experienced opponent so far. He’s been in a lot of big fights. But I’m very confident. I’m prepared for anything. Both our styles should make for a great fight. I don’t know for sure how it will end, but I’m in the best shape of my life. There is a little bit of pressure, but I put that on myself anyway to bring the best out of my performance in the ring. There was pressure to perform in front of the great Bob Arum when he came in January. There was pressure when I fought for France in the amateurs. I have no problem with pressure. My best performances have been when the pressure is very high.”
In between the destruction of Murdock and the perceived litmus test against Derevyanchenko this Saturday, Mark Heffron was capitulated in just 40 seconds in May. Throughout the whole period, Mbilli and his team have consistently called to face the 168-pound undisputed champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez alongside the big names in the division, including Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga. The latter gets a chance against Canelo on September 14, while Munguia will face Erik Bazinyan one week later.
“I have to stay focused on Derevyanchenko, but this is a very important fight, and I do feel some pressure,” Mbilli added. “If I can perform well in this fight, it will open up a lot of opportunities for me. This fight signifies me moving up a level. The fight after that, we then go up another level. This fight is the key to everything.”
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