Christian Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs) will face #7 Maciej Sulecki (33-3, 13 KOs) in a clash for the WBC interim light heavyweight title on June 27th at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.

The winner of the Mbilli-Sulecki fight will be in a stronger position to challenge WBC champion Canelo Alvarez for his belt. Of course, that doesn’t mean Alvarez will defend against the winner anytime soon or ever.

It’s a more winnable fight for Mbilli going up against Sulecki, 35, than if he were to face #3 WBC Osleys Iglesias for the interim title. The Cuban hits too hard and would take advantage of Mbilli’s porous defense to potentially knock him out.

Sulecki’s Threat

Manouk Akopyan broke the news about Mbilli fighting Sulecki on June 27th. Sulecki is still a difficult fight for Mbilli, as he’s got skills and is still fighting on a high level.

The Polish fighter Sulecki is coming off a tenth-round knockout win over Ali Akhmedov (23-2, 17 KOs) on February 28th in Astana, Kazakhstan. Few fans expected Sulecki to do that to Akhmedov, but he showed that he’s still got a lot left in the tank at 35.

The 2016 Olympian Mbilli looked very average in his last fight, laboring to a 10-round unanimous decision over the injured, one-armed 39-year-old Sergiy Derevyanchenko on August 17th last year. If Derevyanchenko were healthy, he would have had an excellent chance of winning because he gave Mbilli massive problems fighting with just one arm.

Mbilli has good power and a high work rate. On offense, he’s got ability, but his defense is nowhere. He gets hit too much and hasn’t shown the kind of ability that suggests that he can capture a world title and hold onto it for any length of time without being protected by his promoters.

It’s too bad Canelo doesn’t give Mbilli a title shot without him having to take a risky fight against Sulecki because he’s going to miss out permanently if he loses to the Polish fighter.