Christian M’billi, a contender, will face a veteran in a 10-round main event this Saturday, August 17, at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada. The M’billi-Derevyanchenko fight will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Abdullah Mason: The real star of the show
Lightweight talent Abdullah Mason is the keeper on the card and the one that US fans want to see the most. You could take a broom and sweep away the main event along with the entire pre-card, leaving Abdullah Mason, and US fans would be happy.
The 29-year-old M’billi (27-0, 23 KOs) will be given another challenging fight, even though he is almost 30 and has wasted a lot of time in his career trying to improve his record.
M’billi may have been afraid to step him up quickly after Rohan Murdock hit him repeatedly last January. Although M’billi eventually stopped Murdock in the sixth round, not before he was injured in the contest.
You can’t write off 38-year-old veteran Derevyanchenko (15-5, 10 KOs) in this fight because M’Billi isn’t as good as some boxing fans seem to think. If he was, he could have progressed much faster in his career after competing in the 2016 Olympics, and Murdock wouldn’t have hurt him.
If M’Billi wins, it won’t tell us much, as Derevyanchenko has already been beaten recently by Jaime Munguia, Carlos Adames and Jermall Charlo. The loss to Munguia, a fighter with an inflated record, shows that Derevyanchenko is nearing the end of his career.
Derevyanchenko was on guard against Munguia before going down with a body shot in the twelfth inning. I still had Derevyanchenko winning, but they unsurprisingly gave the win to Munguia for obvious reasons. He had a payday coming up with Canelo Alvarez, so he won.
The version of Derevyanchenko that gave Gennadiy Golovkin a lot of trouble in 2019 would have easily beaten Munguia and defeated M’Billi because he is clearly not that good.
For the Americans, the best fight is between lightweight prospect Abdullah Mason (14-0, 12 KOs) and Mike “Bad Man” Ohan Jr. (19-2, 9 KOs). This is by far the best and should arguably be the main event, with M’Billi-Derevyanchenko tucked away in the co-main bout where he belongs.
Pre-program
Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. Guido Vianello
Osleys Iglesias vs Sena Agbeko
Abdullah Mason vs. Mike “Bad Man” Ohan Jr (19-2, 9 KOs)
Dzmitry Asanau vs Matias Rueda
Jahi Tucker vs Santiago Fernandez
