Christian Mbilli Batters, Stops Rohan Murdock in Six Rounds

Christian Mbilli maintained his spot Saturday night as the number one contender for two of Canelo Alvarez’s super middleweight titles.

The unbeaten Mbilli battered Australian veteran Rohan Murdock for most of their six rounds of action on the Artur Beterbiev-Callum Smith undercard at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada. Cameroon’s Mbilli (26-0, 22 KOs), who lives and trains in Montreal, never dropped Murdock, but Murdock’s handlers understandably instructed referee Steve St. Germain to stop their 10-round bout before the seventh round began.

Murdock demonstrated a lot of heart, but he was way behind on the scorecards and had taken countless flush punches from the aggressive, relentless Mbilli. Mbilli landed 190-of-366 power punches according to ESPN’s unofficial statistics.

Murdock (27-3, 19 KOs), of Nerang, Australia, lost inside the distance for the second time in 13 years as a pro. England’s Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) previously stopped Murdock in the 11th round of their March 2020 bout at AO Arena in Manchester, England.

Winning will ensure that the 28-year-old Mbilli remains the number one 168-pound contender in the rankings by both the WBA and WBC. The 2016 Olympian is also rated third by the IBF and fifth by the WBO.

Mbilli told BoxingScene.com before he defeated Murdock that he wants to challenge Alvarez later this year. He understands, though, that the Mexican superstar seeks high-profile fights, which could make Mbilli fight for a vacant title at some point if he continues to win.

Murdock mounted some offense during the sixth round, when he threw more punches than in most previous rounds and mostly stayed away from the ropes. Mbilli backed Murdock into the ropes toward the end of that round, though, and viciously unleashed hard head and body shots on him.

The game Murdock’s handlers nevertheless realized he had taken too much punishment to continue.

Mbilli rocked Murdock with a right hand that staggered him with about 30 seconds on the clock in the fifth round.

Mbilli countered Murdock with a right that moved Murdock from the center of the ring and toward the ropes with about 1:10 to go in the fifth round. Mbilli landed an overhand right to the side of Murdock’s head and two more damaging rights during the opening minute of the fifth round.

Mbilli’s right hand knocked Murdock’s mouthpiece out in the final minute of the fourth round, which caused a brief break in the action. Mbilli landed two thudding lefts to Murdock’s body while he was backed against the ropes barely a minute into the fourth round.

Mbilli backed Murdock into the ropes early in the third round and landed an array of punishing punches that began wearing down the underdog. Murdock moved away from the ropes eventually, but Mbilli made him pay with damaging shots to his head and body until the bell rang to end the third round

A right hand by Mbilli knocked Murdock off balance just before the bell sounded to end the second round. Before Mbilli landed that punch, he connected with various rights and lefts that kept Murdock from coming forward.

A right uppercut by Mbilli caught Murdock with 55 seconds remaining in the second round. Mbilli landed two more right hands around Murdock’s guard in that sequence.

Mbilli drilled Murdock with a right hand, but Murdock shook his head to indicate that shot didn’t hurt him with just under 1:40 to go in the second round.

Mbilli blasted Murdock with a hard right that landed with about 50 seconds on the clock in the first round. Murdock landed a stiff jab about 1:20 into the opening round.

Mbilli applied pressure on Murdock as soon as the opening bell rang, but Murdock moved well to avoid some of his shots.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.