Christian Mbilli feels there’s still work to be done after his spectacular KO win

On Saturday, Christian Mbilli sent out a statement of intent to the super middleweight division with a violent fifth-round knockout over experienced Nadjib Mohammedi at the Montreal Casino, Montreal.

However, despite the eye-opening win, Mbilli, who is ranked No. 8 by The Ring at 168-pounds, wasn’t wholly pleased.

“I feel good, I think the performance was good but I have many things to work on,” Mbilli (21-0, 19 knockouts) told The Ring. “It was a good fight and he was a good opponent.

“He came here to fight; it was not an easy fight. It was good for me; I learned a lot from this fight.”

Mbilli, who is known to have outstanding cardio, starts fast and gets faster. He brings a suffocating pressure that is tough for his opponents to deal with.

That was the case for Mohammedi, who was made to fight three minutes of every round. The experienced Frenchman was backing up early in the fight, looking to counter but struggling for room to get his punches off.

“It’s my style,” said Mbilli. “I have a big heart; I have to put pressure on and [throw] a lot of punches. It’s better for me to put pressure on my opponents because going back is not in my nature. I want to fight.”

Mohammedi was stunned in the second and fourth round and was in many ways fighting to keep “Solide” off him as opposed to winning the fight.

The end came in stunning fashion. Mbilli uncorked a picture-perfect left hook that toppled his rival backwards. Mohammedi was out before he crashed into the canvas.

A KO of the year candidate and a #Solide statement to the whole 168 division!! Do you think Berlanga can survive for a few rounds in Christian MBilli’s world? Who do you want to see him fight next? pic.twitter.com/25x4dovvGd

— Eye of the Tiger (@EOTTM11) March 27, 2022

“I put all of my weight into the punch,” said Mbilli. “He was moving around. I hit him clean, I felt the punch on my knuckles.

“He has been knocked out [early] by [Sergey] Kovalev and [Oleksandr] Gvozdyk. I am happy to be the third [Laughs.] I think it is my best knockout.”

The nature of the victory won’t have fighters queuing up in any kind of rush to face Mbilli. It will be interesting to see who Eye of The Tiger is able to entice to face their man next.

Renowned cut man/ trainer Russ Anber quipped to this writer moments after the fight, “They should film his fights in black and white because you’d think he was fighting in the 1950s, or 60s.”

Mbilli’s trainer, Marc Ramsay, liked the manner of victory but feels there is more honing of his pupil’s skills to come.

“The end of the fight was good,” said Ramsay. “I don’t want him to be so excited at the beginning. I want him to box a little bit more.

“Mohammedi has a very special style, he is unorthodox. Mohammedi was expecting a lot of pressure from the first round and we want to do that from the second part of the fight because the same punch in the first round probably has no effect. You have to select the level of energy of your opponent.”

Camille Estephan, of Eye of The Tiger, was impressed by the all-action made for TV style his fighter showcased.

“I don’t know how humanly possible it is to deal with all that pressure and he has power,” said Estephan. “I don’t think Mohammedi has been knocked out that bad before.

“It’s a major highlight, it’s probably going to be one of the knockouts of the year. We’re fortunate on the team we have big punchers like [David] Lemieux, [Arslanbek] Makhmudov and Mbilli. It’s a hard act to follow.

“We’re excited, we know what our fighter has. Now he got to show it. I think this is a message to the whole division.”

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Christian Mbilli takes on Nadjib Mohammedi in Montreal on Saturday

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk and you can follow him on Twitter@AnsonWainwright

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