Christian Mbilli (26-0, 22 KOs), the unbeaten super middleweight contender, looked like pure gold on Saturday night, scoring an impressive sixth-round stoppage of Rohan Murdock (27-3, 19 KOs) at the Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Canada.
Mbilli had Murdock hurt in the fifth and sixth rounds from his heavy flow of huge power shots to the head. At the end of the sixth, Murdock’s corner pulled the plug on the fight.
Murdock’s trainer should have stopped the fight a lot earlier in the sixth round because he was getting punished all night by Mbilli, who had no fear of anything he was throwing due to his lack of power.
If this had been David Morrell Jr. that Mbilli was fighting tonight, he would have been in trouble.
Defensive Concerns?
The 28-year-old Mbilli was getting hit more than he should have against this low-level opponent. He’s going to have to fix that if he wants to compete with the upper rung of the 168-lb division.
For Mbilli’s age, he’s very raw, like a fighter just turning pro, not someone nearing 30. Mbilli needs to get a good trainer and focus on fighting quality opponents who can help him develop because the way he’s fighting now is reckless and sloppy.
Canelo: Dream or Dream Too Big?
After the contest, Mbilli called out undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, saying he wanted him next. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that Canelo did choose to throw a bone to Mbilli and give him the title shot that he desires against him.
Canelo would feast on Mbilli, taking advantage of his nonexistent defense to tag him all night with shots and knock him out. Mbilli’s defense is his offense, and that won’t work for him against a talented fighter like Canelo.
If Mbilli wants to fight Canelo, he needs to prove himself against David Morrell, David Benavidez, or Caleb Plant. If his promoter can offer those guys a ton of money, they might entertain the idea of fighting him.
