By: Sean Crose
While there are no big fights this weekend in the world of boxing, there’s sure to be an interesting fight in Canada when 38-year-old Sergey Derevyanchenko takes on rising super middleweight Christian Mbilli at Quebec’s Centre Videotron. The fight, scheduled for 10 rounds at super middleweight, will air live on ESPN+ on Saturday night. There’s a lot riding on this fight for Mbilli, and perhaps even more riding on this contest for Derevyanchenko. Because if Mbilli beats his opponent, the veteran Derevyanchenko’s chance to be recognized as a force again will be gone.
The Ukrainian hasn’t taken the world by storm since his impressive outings against Daniel Jacobs and Gennady Golovkin. True, Derevyanchenko lost those fights, but he did well enough for some to believe he deserved the IBF middleweight title, which he fought for on both occasions. The Jacob fight was in 2018, while the Golovkin fight was in 2019. Since then, however, Derevyanchenko has lost three of his five fights. Having lost most, if not all, of his big fights, Derevyanchenko is clearly looking to make his mark on boxing once again.
However, he has a tough task ahead of him at Mbilli this weekend. For starters, Mbilli is about nine years younger than him. Furthermore, Mbilli has stopped 23 of his 27 opponents by stoppage. The Frenchman (from Cameroon) has never lost a fight since turning pro in 2017. On the other hand, Mbilli has never faced a fighter like Derevyanchenko before. It is worth remembering that fighters who were considered to be out of their prime have come back and put in great second-round performances (George Foreman is a prime example of this). It is also worth noting that Derevyanchenko has only lost to notable fighters (besides Jacobs and Golovkin, Derevyanchenko has been defeated by Carlos Adames, Jermall Charlo and Jaime Munguia).
With all that said, Mbilli and his team deserve credit for being ready to take on Derevyanchenko at this point in Mbilli’s career. Mbilli is widely regarded as one of the top super middleweights in the world. With Canlo Alvarez dominating the division with an iron fist, it’s hard to think of a more lucrative division in the current boxing landscape. In other words, Mbilli is taking a real risk here. Again, it’s great to see a young fighter ready to build a successful career through hard work and talent rather than hype and careful marketing.
