All week, a war was promised, and although there was some good action throughout the fight, we did not get anything like that because one of the fighters had to survive the fight with an injured bicep. Christian Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-6, 10 KOs), who fought most of the fight with an injured left arm. The judges scored it 100-90, 99-91 & 98-92 for Mbilli, who maintains his status as the top contender at super middleweight.
The fight did not waste any time developing as Mbilli and Derevyanchenko started throwing blows immediately. Derevyanchenko focused on the body with left and right hooks, but Mbilli had the better round with a straight right hand that rocked Derevyanchenko, and he followed it with a left hook to the head. Derevyanchenko used good movement during the first half of the second round but once Mbilli landed his overhand right, it went downhill from there for Derevyanchenko. Mbilli landed huge straight right hands and left hooks to the head of Derevyanchenko, who had the 38-year-old buzzed.
The third round saw back-and-forth action as Derevyanchenko dictated the pace, but Mbilli’s punches, when landed, were more effective. Mbilli appeared to have more steam on his punches. During the fourth round, Derevyanchenko wasn’t throwing his left hand, and it was later revealed that he had a bicep injury. Mbilli began to fatigue a bit but still landed some huge overhand rights.
Although Derevyanchenko had an injured left arm, he showed tremendous heart throughout the fifth round and refused to back down. Mbilli continued to land a hard right uppercut and devastating body punches. Mbilli also applied a ton of pressure on Derevyanchenko, who couldn’t handle it. Derevyanchenko appeared defeated as he walked to his corner at the end of the round. The seventh round began slowly, but then Derevyanchenko landed a big right hand that rocked Mbilli and temporarily hurt him. Derevyanchenko tried to put together a knockdown but just couldn’t with only one healthy arm. Mbilli then had a late rally where he hurt Derevyanchenko right before the sound of the bell.
Rounds eight through ten were about Mbilli hunting Derevyanchenko as he looked for the stoppage, but the Ukrainian stood in there tough and made it to the end of the fight. Mbilli was unsuccessful in being the first to stop Derevyanchenko, but he won convincingly as he looks to get a big fight towards the end of this year or at the beginning of next year, potentially with Jaime Munguia.
Guido Vianello Scores 8th Round TKO As Makhmudov’s Left Eye Was Completely Closed
Heavyweight Guido Vianello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) needed a big win to keep his career alive, and he got one on Saturday night to open up the ESPN telecast. Vianello scored an eighth-round TKO over Arslanbek Makhmudov (19-2, 18 KOs), whose left eye was completely closed. Vianello looked his best as he continues his heavyweight division career.
In the opening round, Vianello looked sharper with his movement and a right uppercut that penetrated Makhmudov’s defense occasionally. Makhmudov followed Vianello around the ring as he searched for the right punch to land. Vianello dominated the second round right from the start as he consistently landed a one-two combination down the middle and slipped in a right uppercut while at mid-range. Makhmudov could not put his punches together and began to show glimpses of frustration.
In the third round, Vianello landed a straight right hand, which instantaneously began swelling over Makhmudov’s left eye. The swelling went from a little to nearly having his eye closed by the end of the round. From rounds four through eight, Vianello conducted target practice on Makhmudov, who didn’t see the punches coming. Although the fight could have been stopped two rounds earlier, the ringside physician finally stepped in and stopped the fight as Makhmudov’s swelling began to shift towards his forehead.
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