Photo: Vincent Ethier – Could Mark Heffron (30-3-1, 24 KOs) only be the first stop of Christian Mbilli (26-0, 22 KOs) in the UK boxing world?
Christian Mbilli will face Mark Heffron on May 25 at the Centre Gervais Auto of Shawinigan. Why him? Marc Ramsay summed up the idea very well when the fight was announced.
“It’s time for Christian to show to the UK what he can do,” he said.
Clearly, “patience” is the watchword for Mbilli, stuck behind Canelo Alvarez and his obvious affinities with the sanctioning bodies. As for the “UK”, nothing personal, it’s just one of the biggest boxing markets in the world, so while we wait, why not do it on the biggest stage?
And so, here are five other names which, if he passes the Heffron test, would allow Mbilli to continue to avenge the French loss of 1759 on the Plains of Abraham of Quebec City.
Zach Parker (24-1, 17 KOs)
This name comes straight from ‘Solide’ who, at a press conference, literally said: “right now it’s Heffron, but if the call doesn’t come, it could be Zach Parker next.” But who is he?
Fun fact: he has two opponents in common with Mbilli. He quickly got rid of Vaughn Alexander in 2 rounds, but took more time against Rohan Murdock by winning in the 11th.
His only defeat came at the hands of John Ryder, in 2022, in a WBO interim world championship fight whose result potentially cost him a fight against Canelo. In his defense, without taking anything away from Ryder, it looked to be Parker’s fight before he broke his right hand in the 4th round, effectively ending the fight.
Since then, however, he has bounced back with two victories, including one against former world champion Tyron Zeuge last March. Since the fight was contested between 168 and 175 pounds, Parker is now No. 13 IBF and No. 16 WBC (super middleweight), as well as No. 11 WBO (light heavyweight).
Lerrone Richards (18-0, 4 KOs)
Nicknamed ‘Sniper The Boss’, he is best known for defeating the then undefeated Carlos Góngora by split decision in 2021. However, he did not really capitulate on this victory, even losing his IBO title – now owned by Osleys Iglesias – due to his inactivity for almost 17 months.
We cannot ignore him from the list since he is very good, but it would be surprising to see him come to Quebec. Even at home, he struggles to stay active and interest the television networks… Maybe his style and his knockout percentage of 22% explains a little why…
Mark Jeffers (17-0, 4 KOs)
Although Jeffers’ punching power (24% KOs) is not much better than Richards’, several factors would make him a better target for Christian Mbilli.
First, he is more active, having fought last January and even having a return date (May 11). The current British champion is also ranked by the federations; nº29 WBC, but especially nº11 IBF.
Business fact: we know the importance of relationships in boxing. Let’s just think about Camille Estephan and Lou DiBella who pitted 3 of their respective boxers against each other in 2023-2024. Well in the case of Jeffers, his career is managed by Kevin Maree, also managing the one of a certain Mark Heffron…
Zak Chelli (15-2-1, 7 KOs)
What makes British boxing – and lately the noble Canadian art – so successful is that it seems like everyone always ends up fighting each other.
In 2023, Cheili lost to Mark Jeffers, but bounced back last January against Jack Cullen… who had just beaten Mark Heffron. Even as an amateur, Cheili has twice beaten future British Olympic medalist Ben Whittaker, who recently went viral for his showboating performances.
Plus, Cheili’s currently ranked #22 WBC and #12 IBF.
Callum Simpson (14-0, 10 KOs)
Potentially the least “tested” of the lot, but he still bring an interesting profile. First, he’s ranked number 15 by the WBA. Also, he defeated Jose Macias by unanimous decision last year, a Mexican fighter well known to Quebecers, having notably faced Mikaël Zewski, Francis Lafrenière, Steven Butler and – just before Simpson – Erik Bazinyan.
And again, just like Heffron and Jeffers, he is represented by Maree Boxing, so anything is possible.
To take into consideration
For those who would like to suggest another name for this fall possible Mbilli. Take the following information into consideration…
Canelo Alvarez says he wants to fight three times this year. He will face Jaime Munguia on May 4, but he seems already set to do his WBA (Edgar Berlanga) and IBF (William Scull) mandatory defences later this year.
Jaime Munguia – if he loses to Canelo – let’s be real, he would probably not choose to face Christian Mbilli in a “comeback fight.”
David Benavidez: Although his father and trainer has said he would like to see him face Mbilli, the ‘Mexican Monster’ career seems on hold at super middleweight. He will face Oleksandr Gvozdyk on July 15 for the WBC interim 175-pound title. After this, will he ever get back down to 168 pounds?
David Morrell: Same as Benavidez, he should face Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic somewhere this summer for the WBA “regular” light heavyweight title. If he wins, his “regular” super middleweight title will become vacant, so a comeback seems even more unlikely.
Caleb Plant: Some people like to think that money solves everything, but that’s not always enough to convince a boxer to fight. Recently, Plant turned down a lucrative offer to fight as the co-main event of Masvidal-Diaz PPV. He has been inactive for over a year and is waiting to see if he can get a grudgematch against Jermall Charlo.
So yeah, we’re having fun, but fortunately, between now and May 25, we won’t really have to wonder “who’s next?” for Mbilli.
