(Montreal) Christian Mbilli retained his World Boxing Council (WBC) Americas Continental super middleweight title by knocking out Nadjb Mohammedi with a hard-hitting left hook to the face in the fifth round of a 12-day bout on Saturday. at the Casino de Montreal.
Posted at 5:41 p.m.
Mbilli (21-0, 19 K. -O.) had already placed several power shots in this round at the expense of Mohammedi (44-8, 27 K. -O.). At 2:45 of the fifth round, he landed a blow that Mohammedi could never avoid and the reaction was instantaneous. His eyes rolled into their sockets and the Frenchman sagged onto his back like a board dropped to the ground. His head also violently hit the canvas. Steve St-Germain immediately signaled the end of hostilities.
Mohammedi was never able to get going in this fight, even though he was able to avoid the worst for most of the first four rounds. He even allowed himself good dodges in the third, causing Mbilli to miss the target on many occasions.
But the protege of Marc Ramsay had the upper hand from the start. In the second round, he hit Mohammedi with three big left hooks, one of which seemed to shake the Frenchman, who was able to leave the ring on his own after recovering for a few minutes.
In the fourth, Mbilli served a solid left hook to the face of Mohammedi, who appeared to be saved by the cables. This sequence set the table for the fifth round, from which Mohammedi could not escape.
This “final” was presented earlier at the start of the evening so that the two Frenchmen could benefit from the best possible showcase in France. It is therefore to the Russian boxer Artem Oganesyan that will return the honor of closing the evening.
Oganesyan (12-0, 10 KOs) will face Dutchman Stephen Danyo (20-4-3, 7 KOs) for the vacant North American Boxing Council super welterweight belt ( NABF).
Danyo, however, can’t get his hands on the belt if he were to win, as he failed to meet the 154-pound limit at Friday’s weigh-in. He swung the scale at 156.6 pounds.