Christian Mbilli appears ready to make the leap onto the big stage of the super middleweight division.
The Canada-based, Cameroonian-French contender is next set to fight Mark Heffron on May 25 and he’s already promising a spectacular performance.
And if the 29-year-old Mbilli (26-0, 22 KOs) stays undefeated, co-promoter Bob Arum is ready to pit his prizefighter against the top dogs at 168 pounds.
Top Rank signed Mbilli to a co-promotional pact with Eye of the Tiger in March, and they want to fast-track the 29-year-old.
“If he gets through the fight on the 25th, we’ll sit down with co-promoter Camille Estephan and try to go after the biggest fight out there in either Canelo Alvarez or David Benavidez,” Arum told BoxingScene.
“Those are tremendous fights. Mbilli is fearless in the ring. I don’t know how Canelo would feel about that. At this particular time, he can pick his shots. Mbilli and Benavidez would be a terrific fight. Camille feels the same way we do – no more messing around, let’s go after the brass golden ring. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
Arum’s thinking is that if Alvarez and Benavidez aren’t going to fight each other, they should fight Mbilli.
Benavidez’s father and trainer Jose Sr. welcomes a fight against Mbilli as well.
“Mbilli, that f***ing guy is a monster. He’s an animal, too,” Benavidez Sr. told BoxingScene earlier this year. “He looked great in his last fight [against Rohan Murdock in January]. That’s another guy we’d like to fight. That’s a dangerous fighter right there. I consider him more dangerous than [David] Morrell. He has more experience and has climbed the ladder on his own. He has proven himself.”
Alvarez has cleaned out the 168-pound division since he started his title reign in 2020. Over the last four years, Alvarez has beaten Jermell Charlo, John Ryder, Gennady Golovkin, Caleb Plant, Billy Joe Saunders, and Callum Smith. Alvarez also suffered a loss to Dmitry Bivol at 175 pounds in 2022.
Mbilli, Benavidez, Morrell, and Edgar Berlanga headline a group of viable 168-pounders left for Alvarez to consider facing. Middleweight Jermall Charlo has also been a frontrunner over the last year.
Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) will next face Jaime Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Mbilli said he anticipates an “easy win” for Alvarez.
“I favor Canelo in that fight but Munguia is in there with a real chance,” said Arum.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.