Mbilli Blasts Out Sulecki in Quebec; Wilder TKOs Herndon in Wichita

Christian Mbilli, a 30-year-old Montreal-based Frenchman of Cameroonian descent, just may be the best 168-pound fighter in the world. Tonight at the Videotron in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, Mbilli demolished Maciej Sulecki in less than three minutes. That earned him an interim WBC title at 168 and makes him, in the words of Mbilli’s Lebanese-Canadian promoter Camille Estephan, the “de facto mandatory” for Canelo Alvarez. But don’t hold your breath. Canelo doesn’t want any part of this beast.

Mbilli advanced to 29-0 (24 KOs) with a first-round stoppage of 36-year-old Polish import Maciej Sulecki. A right-left-right combo, beginning with a right to the body and climaxed with a right uppercut, sent Sulecki into dreamland. There was no need to count. The official time was 2:28 of round one.

In his previous start, Sulecki (33-4) upset 23-1 Ali Akhmedov who he dominated and stopped on Akhmedov’s turf in Kazakhstan. But the Pole was no match for Mbilli.

Semi-wind-up

Canadian war horse Steven Butler, now competing as a super middleweight, scored a fourth-round TKO over Guadalajara’s Jose de Jesus Macias, avenging a 2021 setback in Mexico. (In that bout, Butler was leading on the cards when he forgot to duck, enabling Macias to score a fifth-round KO).

A three-punch combo climaxed by an overhand right sent Macias down hard. No count was necessary. Butler improved to 36-5-1 with his 30^th win inside the distance. Macias (29-14-4) lost for fourth time in his last six starts. The official time was 1:33.

Other Bouts of Note

Arslanbek Makhmudov, the so-called Russian Lion, got back on track with a first-round stoppage of Ricardo Brown. The fight was waived off at the 1:57 mark of the opening round after Makhmudov (20-2, 19 KOs) deposited Brown on the canvas with an overhand right.

A Toronto resident who represented his native Jamaica in the 2020/21 Tokyo Olympics, Brown was undefeated (12-0, 11 KOs) heading in, but hadn’t defeated anyone of consequence and was appearing in his first scheduled 10-rounder. The 36-year-old Makhmudov had a notable amateur career that included a 13-3 record in 5-round fights.

Fast-rising junior welterweight Jhon Orobio, a 22-year-old Montreal-based Colombian, blasted out Slovakia’s Zsolt Osadan in the opening round. Orobio scored two knockdowns before the bout was waived off at 2:57 of round one.

The second knockdown was a sweeping left that came after Orobio paralyzed Osadan (27-4-1) with a body punch. The Slovak bounced right up after going down hard but was in no condition to continue. It was the first scheduled 10-rounder for Orobio (14-0, 12 KOs) who appears to have a very bright future.

Junior welterweight Leila Beaudoin stepped up in class and scored the best win of her career, TKOing former world title challenger Elhem Mekhaled in the sixth round.  A 29-year-old Quebec native, Beaudoin (13-1, 2 KOs) retained her secondary WBO title.

Beaudoin scored two knockdowns in round six before the bout was halted at the 1:08 mark. Mekhaled, a 34-year-old Parisian, declines to 17-4.

Beaudoin hopes to fight the winner of the July 11 bout in New York between Alycia Baumgardner and Jennifer Miranda. At stake will be three pieces of the world female 130-pound title.

Nova Scotia junior welterweight Wyatt Sanford, a bronze medalist in the Paris Summer Games, improved to 3-0 at the expense of Mark Andrejev, winning a wide 6-round decision. The Judges had it 60-53 and 60-54 twice. Sanford has been a busy beaver; this was his third fight in six weeks. Andrejev (4-2) was purportedly a nine-time national amateur champions in Estonia.

Photo credit: Vincent Ethier / Eye Of The Tiger

Wichita, Kansas

Deontay Wilder calls himself a walking, living legend. But the former heavyweight champion and his advisor Shelly Finkel know that his brand has been badly tarnished. To restore it, the “Bronze Bomber” plans a series of “warm ups” (his term) that he trusts will lead to a world title fight in 2026. “We’re tuning things up. I want to make sure everything is back to functioning as it used to, and even better.”

The first of those tune-ups took place tonight in Wichita with Texas no-hoper Terrell Herndon in the opposite corner.

Herndon was reluctant to let his hands go and it was a stroll in the park for Wilder who emerged victorious via a seventh-round TKO. Referee Ray Corona halted the match at the 2:16 mark with Herndon on his feet but making no inclination to fight fire with fire.

Wilder was credited with two knockdowns, in rounds two and six, although Herndon wasn’t badly hurt on either occasion.

In improving to 44-4-1 (43 KOs), Wilder looked in excellent shape for a man of his vintage (he turns 40 in October). He never did uncork his explosive right hand to any devastating effect, but he used his jab more effectively than had been his custom and kept his composure throughout. Herndon, whose strategy was to continuously dip low so that Wilder couldn’t get any leverage behind his punches, was stopped for the fifth time as his ledger dipped to 24-6.

The card, which had an embarrassing undercard, was promoted by something called the Global Combat Collective.

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