WBC Orders Mbilli vs. Munguia For Interim Title

December 12, 2024

1 month

WBC Orders Mbilli vs. Munguia For Interim Title

The WBC has ordered Christian Mbilli and Jaime Munguia to face off for the WBC Interim Title, putting pressure on the latter’s next fight.

Munguia will face Bruno Surace in their super middleweight clash on Saturday. Munguia enters the fight with a victory against Erik Bazinyan in his first fight with Top Rank. He knocked out Bazinyan in the tenth round to bounce back from the first loss of his career against Canelo Alvarez. Munguia was eying a fight with Edgar Berlanga next.

Berlanga also suffered his first loss, coming up short to Canelo on Mexican Independence Weekend. Mugnuia mocked Berlanga for celebrating a loss simply because he went 12 rounds with Canelo. The Berlanga fight has the potential to do big numbers, given the Mexican and Puerto Rican fanbase. The Canelo-Berlanga fight sold 650,000 PPVs. But the Mbilli fight may take precedent.

Munguia Vs. Mbilli

Mbilli is undefeated with a 28-0 record. 23 of his wins are by way of knockout. He has stopped three out of his last four opponents. But his last performance was far from impressive. He struggled to a unanimous decision win against the 39-year-old Sergiy Derevyanchenko. But Mbilli has indicated his desire to face the best. Mbilli was in talks to face Diego Pacheco in an IBF title eliminator. But those talks broke down.

Mbilli has also called out Canelo Alvarez, who is the current Unified Super Middleweight Champion. The winner of Munguia-Mbilli knows they will be in a mandatory position for the Canelo fight. Munguia has already lost to Canelo, giving him the possible chance to avenge that loss. Meanwhile, it would be the biggest fight of Mbilli’s career.

Reaction

“It’d be a good, exciting fight for Canelo. Mbilli comes to fight. It won’t be boring. It’ll be interesting. Canada – particularly French Canada – has many boxing fans, and it’d be a new fan base of support for Canelo,” Bob Arum said

“We would love it. I have no idea if it’s possible or not. I think Christian’s style makes for a very entertaining fight, that would make Canelo shine and make him work for the victory. As far as the marketability or not, I don’t know, but I think the fight inside the ring would be terrific. I think Canada would get behind it as well. It would be a big fight in Canada. How much that resonates for a Canelo fight, I don’t know,” Top Rank (vice president Carl Moretti)

However, Munguia must get past Surace before any talks about future fights. The latter is undefeated, with 25 wins and two draws. However, he only has four knockouts to his name. Munguia will back himself to walk down his man. But Surace will be full of confidence based on his last fight. He knocked out Jhon Jader Obregon in the last round to win the vacant EBU Silver Middleweight Title. However, Munguia is by far his biggest test. Munguia knows he cannot come up short, knowing the potential fight with Mbilli.