Last night in Montreal, Canada, unbeaten super middleweight contender and threat Christian Mbili scored a lightning-quick stoppage victory over Great Britain's Mark Heffron. In an action-packed bout, the Frenchman landed a left body shot on Heffron just seconds into the first round, knocking him down with zero chance of getting back up. Last night's bout never seemed like it would last long, ending after just 40 seconds.
Mbili, 29, is currently 27-0 (23) and eager for a chance to win a world title, while Heffron, 32, is 30-4-1 (23) with each of his losses coming by stoppage.
Mbili is quickly becoming a fan favorite, and has been for a while, in fact. He throws a ton of punches in every fight, keeping his paying fans happy. Like many in the 168-pound division, Mbili would love to face Canelo, but his next opponent will almost certainly be Ukrainian slugger Sergey Derevyanchenko, who never seems to stop. Prior to last night's bout, the bout was scheduled for August 17th in Quebec.
Now that Mbili has won his second bout of 2024, fans can brace themselves for a surefire fight between Mbili and Derevyanchenko. It's a fight you won't want to miss. Derevyanchenko is 38 years old, but he and fans might argue he's only really been beaten once. At 15-5 (10 KOs), Derevyanchenko's five losses have all been by decision, against Danny Jacobs (split decision loss), Gennady Golovkin (a UD loss that many felt Golovkin won narrowly), Jermall Charlo (a UD loss, the only clear loss Sergey has suffered), Carlos Adames (MD loss), and Jaime Munguia (a tough points loss in the actual fight).
Derevyanchenko has one win since losing to Munguia and in theory should be Mbili's toughest test to date. Needless to say, it would be a huge statement if Mbili becomes the first man to stop Derevyanchenko. We can't wait until August 17th!
Last night, Russian heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov also scored a quick KO. Returning to the ring for the first time since his unbeaten physical stoppage loss to Agit Kabayer, Makhmudov dominated Milyan Lovcanin in two rounds. The big Russian scored a powerful knockdown in the first round that sent Lovcanin half way out of the ring. Makhmudov again finished off his lesser opponent with a right hand in the second round.
The bout lasted 2 minutes, 32 seconds, and Makhmudov's record is 19-1 (18). Lovcanin's record is 27-4 (18). Makhmudov was scheduled to face Junior Fa last night in what would have been a much more interesting test for him, but Fa decided to withdraw a few weeks ago.
