Mbilli vs Murdock Predictions: Title-chasing Mbilli gets it done quick

2016 Olympian Christian Mbilli looks to take a definitive step towards a first professional world title when he meets Rohan Murdock this weekend. The bout will serve as chief support for Callum Smith’s world title challenge against WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.

Mbilli is ranked number one with the WBC and WBA, third with the IBF and fifth with the WBO. But he has found his path to title contention blocked. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is the undisputed super middleweight champion. Two of the bodies have also appointed secondary champions to thicken the soup further, with David Morrell holding the WBA ‘regular’ belt while David Benavidez grips the WBC ‘interim’ gold. 

Mbilli is talented and deserves his chance. But he is not as commercially viable as some of Alvarez’s other options. Benavidez is the public’s favoured choice for ‘Canelo’ to face next. Meanwhile Terence Crawford, the unified welterweight champion, has also made noises about stepping up in weight. Meanwhile, Jaime Munguia is a fellow unbeaten fighter who enjoys a bigger profile than Mbilli.

All the Cameroonian can do is keep winning and winning well. Wins over former world title challenger Nadjib Mohammedi and ex-IBO boss Carlos Gongora have helped. Now, with the eyes of the world watching, he must come through against Rohan Murdock.

Murdock is known to UK fans for his fight with Zach Parker in Manchester in 2020. The Australian was stopped in 11 rounds by the Derbyshire lad, though Murdock had his moments. He has remained in the fringe contender mix since, winning three on the bounce. However, his level of competition has been somewhat lacking since Parker.

A pair of short fights provided a soft landing for Murdock after his Cottonopolis reverse. A three-round stoppage of 38-15 Lee Sherrington wasn’t much. But it was ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’ compared to a second-round knockout of 0-3 Alongkorn Borisut. The fact that fight was even allowed to proceed is a sad indictment.

A recent win over Issac Hardman was more like it, a creditable split decision against a fighter with ambitions beyond becoming fodder. But the WBC Australasian title win was still levels below what Mbilli has been doing. Murdock’s best win remains a 2014 knockout of a shopworn Manny Siaca, who held the WBA super middleweight belt briefly 20 years ago. 

Mbilli has ambitions of locking down one of those belts for himself. With 21 knockouts in 25 fights, he should take a step closer to that goal here. Murdock looks ill-equipped to halt the rise of Cameroon’s Olympian. Better fighters than Murdock have been finished inside the distance by the 25-year-old. Another notch on his KO belt looks likely. Once the job is done, Mbilli can chase belts of a different stripe.