Christian Mbilli was recently elevated to become the WBC super middleweight champion following a two-fight reign as interim titleholder. The Montreal-based Frenchman made short work of Poland’s Maciej Sulecki with a first-round knockout last June, and later battled Lester Martinez to a majority-decision draw three months later.
Meanwhile, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez relinquished his undisputed title at 168 pounds to Terence Crawford, who retired from boxing shortly after, which ultimately led to Mbilli’s crowning as full champion.
“After years of being the No. 1 contender and fighting for all those minor titles, and the fact Terence Crawford retired, it was something good for the whole team,” said Marc Ramsay, Mbilli’s trainer, in an exclusive interview with Boxing Social. “When you dream about becoming a world champion, you dream of the big night, but we don’t make the system. What we do from this moment and what we achieve in the future is what is going to distinguish Christian as a champion.
“Right now we don’t have any discussions with anybody,” he said. “We will wait and see with the WBC if we have to face a mandatory challenger or not, or maybe make an optional defense. We should have some news very soon about this — probably in two or three weeks.”
“Since Crawford has retired, Canelo is the best fighter in the division and we want to prove that we are the best.”
“This is the fight that we want to make,” he said, of a possible Mbilli vs Canelo showdown.
“At the end of the day, what I have learned in the past is not to wait on anybody. If we have to defend the title against a [lesser-known] mandatory contender, we would be more than happy to do that at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City in front of our own fans.”
Since Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) was elevated to world champion, it has been reported that Martinez plans to petition the WBC to force a rematch. The WBC had already ordered a rematch prior to Mbilli’s elevation, just days after the fight.
“It’s funny because after the first fight they pushed to make the rematch,” Ramsay explained. “We never said, ‘No’. Then we heard that Martinez’s team didn’t want to face Mbilli right away and instead wanted a tune-up fight before the rematch. After Mbilli became world champion, they started saying they wanted the fight, but now it is a little too late. At the end of the day, I’m sure we’re going to see each other in the ring in the near future. To be honest, he deserves it.
“I think Mbilli did enough [to win] in the first fight, but we don’t want to go against the decision. It was a draw and it was fair. It was a great fight, especially for the fans, but for a coach, I’m not sure. You want to see your boxer be a little more technical and not exchange so many punches for 12 rounds.”
Mbilli and his team have had to be extremely patient as they have struggled to secure final eliminators with other governing bodies long with the WBC.
“I’ve had a similar situation with other fighters,” Ramsay added. “I remember Eleider Alvarez waiting on Adonis Stevenson for years! I learned to be patient as a coach, but you need to teach the boxer about this point because they want to fight and to win and they want to perform. Usually when you are patient, good things happen. You need to sit down with them and explain another part of boxing — not just the tactics and technique, but the politics and all the games they play at the top of the industry — make sure we make the right moves at the right moment and not get emotional about it.”
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