It would be enough for any boxing fan to see or re-watch the eighth round of the fight between Christian Mbilli and Carlos Gongora, delivered Thursday evening at the Casino de Montreal, to fall in love with the protege of Eye of the Tiger Management.
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It is a lesson in courage that Mbilli (24-0, 20 K.-O) gave, so much so that the Frenchman of Cameroonian origin could well be decked out with the nickname surrounding the soccer team of his native country: “ indomitable lion”.
“During this eighth round, without lying to you, I saw my work go by, I saw my hours of suffering in training, I saw my goals and I said to myself: ‘if you don’t survive this round, you have no business there”, commented Mbilli, after his spectacular victory by unanimous decision of the judges (99-91, 98-92, 97-93) against Gongora. That’s where I went to get my balls and I told myself that he was not hurting me and that I was more dangerous than him. It was really a psychological work.
“Certainly, he hurt me physically, but psychologically, I was there, added Mbilli. I then managed to turn this round in my favor. When, like me, you dedicate your life so much to your professional boxing career, there is no room for error. There was only one way, that of victory. And that’s all.”
Strongly shaken, Mbilli therefore resisted the attacks of her opponent while the spectators were at the end of their seats, if not downright standing.
Thanks to its cardiovascular capacity!
While many fans at the Casino held their breath, coach Marc Ramsay was not the most surprised by Mbilli’s reaction to the storm.
“We already knew, in his team, that he had this courage in him. He had already demonstrated it in amateur boxing, then in the gymnasium in training. Now he’s exposed it to fans, Ramsay said. In addition to his courage, what saved him was his cardiovascular capacity. He didn’t even need a minute of rest between two rounds to come back. In the same round he got hurt, he was able to turn it around.”
Without being stunned, the coach agrees that he came very close to advising Mbilli to take a knee during the eighth round. With Samuel Décarie-Drolet, who was the other corner man, we were about to send him such indications.
“We were close to telling him that,” Ramsay said. He was a little disoriented for a good minute. He was asked to hang on, but he couldn’t do it well and kept taking uppercuts. The key to all of this is that he stayed calm.”
hard lessons
Promoter Camille Estephan, who now finds himself in a better position to negotiate a date between Mbilli and Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight, knew the fight against Gorgora was risky.
“We want to give a superb show and we want to challenge our boxers, he admitted earlier this week to the author of these lines. It is also a way to develop them. There are ends to this strategy. We want to bring them to the world championship when they have had really difficult lessons so that they win and even better, in the end, so that they remain world champion.
“It is obvious that this is the time when I had to draw the most on my resources since the beginning of my career, for his part concluded the voluble boxer. But that’s part of boxing. When it’s hard, you have to look deep within yourself, you have to look for determination. I think that’s what makes the difference between an ordinary boxer and a champion. Me, when I say that I want to be world champion, I proved it today (Thursday): I will be world champion.
Have the courage to leave France
Even before demonstrating his courage in the ring at the Casino de Montréal on Thursday evening, boxer Christian Mbilli darkened differently when he chose to leave France to come to Canada to pursue his boxing career.
“I admire all kinds of courage, noted Mbilli himself, after his breathtaking victory against Carlos Gongora on Thursday evening. There are those who are courageous in everyday life… I am passionate about courage in general, whether in politics or even those athletes who do not have easy paths, but who recover. Today, I think I demonstrated that I am quite brave. It is not for nothing that I immigrated here to Canada and left my family behind me in France.
“He is an Olympic athlete who decided to go into exile from France for his career, boasted the promoter Camille Estephan, earlier this week. It would have been easier and possibly more profitable for Christian in the short term to stay there, with the local sponsors, but he thought long term and it is now paying off for him.
Every coach’s dream
In Canada, his trainer Marc Ramsay could not be happier to bet on Mbilli, already WBC Continental Americas and WBA International champion.
“It’s every coach’s dream to work with someone like Christian,” he said. In addition to his talent, all the decisions he makes in his life are related to his career. His hours of sleep, his diet, injury prevention, even his contacts outside the ring, nothing is left to chance. Obviously, he has a social life, he’s not a monk either, but when it’s time to train, he concentrates completely on his training.