Christian Mbilli states that he’s ready for a world title shot against Canelo Alvarez after his ten-round unanimous decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko on Saturday night in Quebec City, Canada. While one can admire Mbilli’s confidence about wanting to fight the #1 fighter at 168, his chances of landing the Canelo fight are unrealistic. In other words, I don’t see Mbilli ever getting a fight against Canelo before he retires.
Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs) didn’t look as great but got the win over Derevyanchenko (15-6, 10 KOs), thanks to his injury in the fourth.
It wasn’t a great fight to watch with the injury and defensive tactics Derevyanchenko had to use to survive after suffering a bicep injury. The scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92.
Mbilli’s Naivete
The France-based Mbilli says he’ll attend Canelo’s fight against Edgar Berlanga on September 14th and be ready to fight him afterward. Mbilli sounds very naive. It’s not that easy to get a title shot against Canelo.
You don’t just show up at his fight and assume he’ll face you next. You have to have something to offer, and without His Excellency Turki Alalshikh willing to finance it, Mbilli doesn’t have a hope of getting a fight against Canelo next, or ever, for that matter.
There are at least five or six fighters who would bring more money to the table for Canelo than Mbilli, and he wouldn’t have to go to Canada to fight them.
The IBF Route
Top Rank and Eye of The Tiger should focus on targeting the IBF belt recently stripped from Canelo because that’s the best hope they have of getting a title shot for Mbilli. He’s not popular in the U.S. and has nothing to offer Canelo. Mbilli would have a good chance of getting a title shot against William Scull for the IBF belt if he gets ranked high enough with them.
If Turki gets his way, Canelo will fight Terence Crawford in early 2025. After that, he wants David Benavidez for Canelo. David Morrell might be an option soon, as well. Mbilli isn’t in the same galaxy as Canelo, and I don’t think he ever will be. Hence, Mbilli should focus on the IBF belt.
“I’m ready for big fights. I want to be a world champion. I know that to be the best, I have to beat the best. I don’t want to say any names, but everybody knows who’s number one. I want the fight with number one,” said Christian Mbilli after his win against Sergiy Derevyanchenko on Saturday night, hinting that he wants a title shot against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Bernard Osuna: “You’re going to be going to the Canelo-Berlanga fight. What does that mean to you?
Mbilli: “I think it’s easy boxing for Canelo. He’s going to win this fight [against Edgar Berlanga], but after, I think I’ll be ready for him.”
