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Camille Estephan: ‘The Excuses For Pacheco Not To Fight Mbilli Were Embarrassing’
Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Christian Mbilli continues his run as the headliner against Poland’s Maciej Sulecki in his adopted Canada on Friday, June 27, at the Centre Vidéotron in Quebec City, but it follows consecutive big fights falling through.

Mbilli’s promoter Camille Estephan had been in negotiations for the 28-0 (23 KOs) contender to face American contender Diego Pacheco and was also exploring the IBF route for a fight with fellow French/Cameroonian Kevin Lele Sadjo. However, Mbilli now welcomes the WBC’s 7th-ranked and silver belt holder Sulecki instead.

“The June 27th fight is giving Mbilli an interim world title but in the Canelo division, so it counts for a lot.” Mbilli’s promoter Estephan, said exclusively to FightsATW. “Canelo is currently jumping up and down fighting people from different weight classes, but it’s a big deal for us for this title against Sulecki. He’s coming off a really good win against Ali Akhmedov. It’s not an easy fight and one we are definitely not taking for granted. If Mbilli comes out on top, which we are confident for, give me any name when you look at the super middleweight division, and I’ll say yes to fighting them straight away.”

Despite the difficulties in finding a dance partner, boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh has shown his gratitude towards Mbilli by putting him at the top of a short list of names he would like to involve on the Canelo-Crawford undercard on September 13.

Alalshikh posted on X: “The world will be watching Riyadh Season’s Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight of the century on Netflix. And for that, I want to load the undercard with young, hungry fighters who deserve the chance to perform under the bright lights. These are some of the names I hope to see fighting in Las Vegas on September 13, led by The Ring champion Junto Nakatani. If you are interested, you and your teams know how to find me: Christian Mbilli, Mohammed Alakel, Reito Tsutsumi, Justin Viloria, Emiliano Alvarado, Jamar Talley, Abdullah Mason, Nishant Dev.”

“A lot of people know that a lot of our guys have been ducked,” Estephan explained. “The excuses for Pacheco not to fight Mbilli were embarrassing. I would say, why don’t we fight him on the undercard of Canelo-Crawford? I have so little faith that he will take it that I don’t want to mention his name. How about the winner of Edgar Berlanga and Hamzah Sheeraz or Jermall Charlo? Even Jaime Munguia, whether he is eating Mexican beef or not. We want to make all the biggest fights for Christian. With Sulecki, he’s even more dangerous now. His back is against the corner, and it’s the ultimate chance for him. You know, he must have the tweet by His Excellency. He’s probably thinking that, ‘If I can beat this guy, it’s my ticket to the very biggest fights.’ So we have to take care of him first. As much as I want to talk about the other names, we have to deal with this guy first.”

Estephan and Mbilli have worked the rankings as they have struggled to lure the top contenders to the negotiating table. However, the WBC has added the interim belt to the June 27 main event, with Mbilli currently sitting in 1st place in their rankings.

“It’s very much appreciated but very well deserved as well,” Estephan added, “because Mbilli has been number one for years now. He was on top of every federation for a long time.”

This article first appeared on Fights Around The World and was syndicated with permission.

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