Unbeaten super middleweight contender Christian Mbilli will take a big step up in competition against Sergiy Derevyanchenko this summer on August 17th, live on ESPN, in a ten-round fight at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.
A Step Up in Competition for Mbilli
This is arguably the first true world-class contender the 29-year-old Canadian-based Mbilli (27-0, 23 KOs) will have faced, and it’s going to be interesting to see if he’s up to the task against ‘The Technician’ Derevyanchenko (20-5, 10 KOs).
The Mbilli vs. Derevyanchenko event will be shown on ESPN at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT and on Sky Sports in the UK.
This is a fight that #1 WBC Mbilli needs to win to stay in position to challenge for a world title against WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Derevyanchenko, 38, has fought for world titles on three occasions, losing to Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, and Daniel Jacobs.
The ‘Technician’ Derevyanchenko fought well enough to deserve victories in two of those fights against Jacobs and Golovkin but wasn’t given the benefit of the doubt.
That’s been the story of his career; Derevyanchenko has also been on the short end of the stick in questionable defeats against Jaime Munguia and Carlos Adames. I had Derevyanchenko beating both of those guys, and many fans did as well.
The one true defeat on Derevyanchenko’s ten-year professional resume came against Jermall Charlo in September 2020. Apart from that, Derevyanchenko arguably deserved wins in the other four fights he lost. Jermall hasn’t been the same fighter since the Derevyanchenko fight, and that’s interesting to note. That was the downfall for the fighter.
“I made the decision to move up to 168 to win a world title. During my entire career, I have always fought the best in the world, and on August 17, it will be no different,” Derevyanchenko said. “I’m fighting a tough opponent in Christian Mbilli, who’s ranked No. 1 in the WBC. If I win this fight, I expect to fight for a world title next.”
Derevyanchenko’s upsetting Mbilli to get a title shot against Canelo would be a massive career turnaround for the 2008 Ukrainian Olympian. Some see Mbilli as a future world champion, but he’s never faced anyone near good enough to know for sure.
Christian Mbilli’s Untested Rise
Recent wins:
Mark Heffron
Rohan Murdock
Demond Nicholson
Carlos Gongora
Vaughn Alexander
Like I said, Mbilli is untested as a pro, and will face his first true world-level contender when he meets Derevyanchenko. Mbilli did not look good against Murdock, who was a second-tier fighter. If Mbilli fights like that against Derevyanchenko, he’ll lose.
Hopefully, we don’t see Derevyanchenko losing a controversial decision because he’s fighting the heavily hyped Mbilli in his backyard in Quebec City, and he’s been picked out to give him some credibility.
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