Tim Bradley says Canelo Alvarez will avoid Christian Mbilli after watching him defeat Sergiy Derevyanchenko by a one-sided ten-round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Mbilli’s Eye on Canelo
Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs) dominated an injured 38-year-old Derevyanchenko (15-6, 10 KOs), who was fighting for just the third time in his ten-year pro career at 168 after moving up in weight last year against Jaime Munguia.
After the fight last night, Mbilli said he wants to challenge for a world title next and will attend Canelo’s title defense against Edgar Berlanga on September 14th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It will allow Mbilli to be interviewed and apply pressure on Canelo from fans.
Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) hasn’t given any hints about who he wants to fight after his match against Beranga, but it’s hard to imagine that Mbilli is high on his list.
It would be wise for Mbilli and his promoters at Eye of the Tiger and Top Rank not to put their eggs in one basket, assuming Canelo will give him a title shot because he probably won’t.
Derevyanchenko’s Heroic Loss
“I think in a very peculiar way, Derevyanchenko stole the show by standing upright by surviving by insisting he finish the fight,” said commentator Mark Kriegel to ESPN’s State of Boxing, viewing the performance by the injured Sergiy Derevyanchenko as being heroic in his loss to Christian Mbilli last Saturday night.
“When [trainer] Andre [Rozier] asked him [Derevyanchenko], ‘Do you want to go?’ He said, ‘Yes,’ but he didn’t say it with full conviction, but his deeds were his deeds and that will last.”
“Later, when he was asked, there was actually no communication, which was very conspicuous in the corner there,” said commentator Joe Tessitore.
“Me witnessing the amount of damage that I witnessed Derevyanchenko take, nobody understands what that does to you,” said Tim Bradley. “It depends on what’s at stake and what’s on the line, but this is a man that’s 38 years old.
“We seen him in war after war after war, right? Taking those kinds of shots, they’ll affect you, and they’ll affect you later in your life. If he was in the fight, I could understand that, but he wasn’t in the fight. It was almost a blowout, if not a blowout.
“That’s a problem I have. His future is going to be different now. He left a piece of himself in the ring, and we talk about that all the time. A big piece, and he didn’t have to. You didn’t get stopped. That’s great, but guess what? My corner stopped the fight. A valiant effort, I get that, but he’s not going to be the same after this. He might not even come back to fight,” said Bradley about Derevyanchenko.
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