Super-middleweight contender Christian Mbilli faces an important step up on Saturday when he faces the tough veteran Sergiy Derevyanchenko in Quebec.
The fight, at the Centre Videotron, could be a coming-out party for the 27-0 (23 KOs) Mbilli, because Derevyanchenko is experienced and known for truly testing the top fighters.
Mbilli, a Cameroonian who lives in France but fights out of Canada, is 29 and blitzed England’s Mark Heffron in 40 seconds in May.
Derevyanchenko is 15-5 but the Ukrainian’s defeats have come against Gennady Golovkin, Danny Jacobs, Jaime Munguia, Carlos Adames and Jermall Charlo. Is Mbilli ready for the best fighters at 168lbs?
“We’ve gotta see what happens in this fight,” said analyst and former world champion Chris Algieri on ProBox TV’s Top Stories. “This is why this fight is being made.
“Derevyanchenko is someone who has a tremendous amount of experience, even though he only has 20 fights, he’s 15 wins, five losses – you kind of look at that record and he’s fought everyone. He fought Triple G and a lot of people thought he could have won that fight; Danny Jacobs he lost a very close split decision for a middleweight title.
“He has fought Jaime Munguia in a fight of the year last year, so he’s got a lot of experience… He is an excellent fighter and a really stiff test for Mbilli.”
Algieri cited the New York-based European’s engine, strength, and pressure, and said “he breaks them down”.
The question might be, “What has Sergiy Derevyanchenko got left, if Christian Mbilli is not the truth he will lose… This is a really stiff test for Mbilli and a lot of questions will be answered on Saturday night”.
Algieri’s ProBox TV colleague Paulie Malignaggi agreed, and envisages a good fight. Derevyanchenko has also stopped 10 of his 15 victims.
“This guy is nasty in the ring,” Malignaggi said of Derevyanchenko. “He brings a lot of energy; his punch selection is very good.
“If Derevyanchenko is not used up – he’s only got 20 fights but he had a vast amateur career and he’s fought at the very top of the sport almost exclusively since turning pro – but this is a good clash of styles and Mbilli is one of the more fun fighters in the weight class and in the sport. Mbilli will always make for fun fights.”