Artur Beterbiev impeccable!

By Vincent Morin

Adopted Montrealer Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KO) retained his impressive immaculate record and at the same time, his WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight (175 lbs) world titles thanks to an impeccable performance, the winning by TKO in the seventh round in front of his WBC mandatory challenger Callum Smith (29-2, 21 KO) Saturday evening, at the Videotron Center in Quebec.

However, Smith was far from being the latest addition. His only loss was a 12-round decision at the hands of Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. He also won the World Boxing Super Series tournament in 2018 and in 30 fights, the Briton had never gone to the mat.

On Saturday, Smith was completely dominated by Beterbiev's jab and precision, before being sent to the floor in the seventh round.

After his second fall to the mat, American coach James “Buddy” McGirt had seen enough and wisely indicated to the officials his wish to stop the hostilities, climbing between the cables to ensure the end of the unequal duel.

For Beterbiev, an inevitable shock against the other champion of the division, the Russian Dmitrii Bivol (22-0, 11 KO), seems on the horizon, quite possibly in Saudi Arabia. The WBA and IBO world belts (minor title recently acquired by Bivol), as well as the prestigious Ring Magazine crown are in the sights of the powerful Chechen puncher.

Mbilli explosive, Maloney in extremis

In the semi-final of the evening, Christian “Solid” Mbilli (26-0, 22 KO) sent a message in front of the cameras of the ESPN network by giving a severe correction to the courageous Australian Rohan Murdock (27-3, 19 KO), which he defeated by abandonment at the end of the sixth engagement.

The Marc Ramsay protégé also retained his WBC Continental Americas title and underlined his wish to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez after his triumph, during the post-fight interview.

In the first clash of the main card, spectators were treated to a furious fight between the WBO bantamweight world champion (118 lbs), the Australian Jason Moloney (27-2, 19 KO) and the Californian Saul Sanchez (20-3, 12 KOs).

After 12 action-packed bouts where the crowd truly got their money's worth, the judges handed out cards of 116-112 Moloney, 116-112 Moloney and 114-114, who retained his crown by majority decision.

Undercard

On the undercard, the Russian Imam Khataev (6-0, 6 KO) took less than two engagements to overcome the Polish tough guy Michal Ludwiczak (17-13-1, 9 KO). The latter accepted the duel at short notice, since Khataev's two initial opponents had to withdraw. The latter got his hands on a first career title, the NABF light heavyweight belt (175 lbs), with this win.

Super featherweight Leila Beaudoin (11-1, 1 KO) avenged her only career defeat, winning by unanimous decision (78-74, 78-74 and 77-75) in eight bouts over Mexican Elizabeth Chavez Espinoza (4-6-3, 1 KO). Espinoza won the first clash between the two gladiators on May 5 in Mexico.

Young super middleweight prospect Wilkens Mathieu (6-0, 3 KOs) recorded a victory by unanimous decision (40-36, 40-35 and 40-35) in four rounds over Mexican Jose Arias Alvarez (3-2, 1 KO), while Turkish light heavyweight Mehmet Unal (8-0, 7KO) took only 57 seconds to defeat Italian of Romanian origin Dragan Lepei (22-7-2, 10 KO). ).

In the welterweight (147 lbs), Montrealer Christopher Guerrero (10-0, 5 KO) had to work hard to defeat Mexican Sergio Garcia Herrera (7-4, 4 KO) by unanimous decision (79-73, 78 -74 and 78-74) in eight attacks while in the curtain-raiser, the French Moreno Fendero (3-0, 2 KO) made short work of the Mexican Victor Hugo Flores (7-3, 3 KO). ), which he stopped from the start.