By Ian S Palmer
Original article; https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/christian-mbilli-vs-mark-heffron-betting-odds-and-prediction/23638/
There’s a pretty good 10-round super middleweight bout on tap from Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada this Saturday, May 25th as unbeaten Christian Mbilli of Cameroon takes on Mark Heffron of England in hope of defending his WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight Title. The bout can be seen live in America on ESPN +. Mbilli last fought in January when he stopped Rohan Murdock in the sixth round to retain his belt. Heffron last boxed in February when he halted Serhii Ksendzov in the second round.
The 29-year-old Mbilli, who fights out of France, enters the ring with a perfect record of 26-0 with 22 Ko’s and has boxed 121 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017. He enjoyed a finer amateur career as he fought for his adopted homeland at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro where he was beaten in his third contest. He stands just over 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 72-inch reach and has quite a bit of power loaded in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 84.6 per cent.
Mbilli has been the distance just four times as a pro but was taken the 10-round distance in his two of his last four bouts by Carlos Gongora and Vaughn Alexander. As a pro he’s also captured the vacant WBC World Youth, WBC Youth Continental, and WBC Francophone Titles. He originally won the vacant WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight Belt in 2021 when he stopped Ronny Landaeta in the third round. He has defended it against Ronald Ellis, Nadjib Mohammedi, DeAndre Ware, Vaughn Alexander, Carlos Gongora, Demond Nicholson and Murdock.
Heffron is 32 years old and carries around a mark of 30-3-1 with 24 Ko’s and has 121 rounds of pro experience under his belt since making his debut in 2010. As an amateur he captured a silver medal at the European Youth Championships in 2009. He also carries quite a bit of power in his attack as 80 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage his last six wins have come by stoppage including his last seven.
He suffered his first loss at the hands of Liam Williams in 2018 when he was stopped in the 10th round in a shot at the vacant British Middleweight Title. He was also halted in his second defeat when he couldn’t continue after four rounds against Denzel Bentley due to a closed left eye in November, 2020 in another attempt at the vacant British Middleweight Belt. Heffron had fought Bentley in his previous bout two months earlier and the two battled to a 10-round draw with Heffron being dropped in the second round. His third defeat was also a stoppage as Jack Cullen halted him in the third round last September.
As far as size goes, Heffron measures 5-feet-11-inches tall with a 72-inch reach so is 2.5-inches taller than Mbilli. Fifteen of his 34 opponents had losing records but he won the vacant WBC International Middleweight Title in 2018 when he stopped Andrew Robinson in the sixth round. He won the British, Commonwealth and vacant IBF Inter-Continental Super Middleweight Belts in July, 2022 when he stopped Lennox Clarke in the fifth round.
Prediction…
Mbilli and Murdock both have solid power but Heffron doesn’t have the greatest of chins as all three of his losses have been by stoppage and the unbeaten Mbilli definitely has more of an upside. Heffron has a puncher’s chance here but that’s about all and I expect Mbilli to remain unbeaten this weekend due to his superior boxing skills and movement with a stoppage being a pretty good bet.
