27 March 2023

Christian Mbilli and Carlos Gongora gave us a candidate for “Fight of the Year” with their back-and-forth slugfest in Montreal. Rocked twice by uppercuts, Mbilli’s work rate and aggression earned him a well-deserved decision over 10 rounds. In so doing, the #7 contender defeated the #5 contender and advances to #2, over Caleb Plant, who was defeated handily by David Benavides. Benavidez puts an exclamation point on his #1 ranking and on his claim as Super Middleweight King Canelo’s most deserving challenger for the crown.

Plant, now 1-2 in his last three bouts, very nearly dropped below David Morrell, but was voted to remain at #3. He is fighting serious guys, after all. Morrell, most members argued, needs to take note of that and face a contender before he can advance further up the ladder. Gongora drops to #7.

Jr. Welterweight Zhankosh Turarov looked formidable against a vulnerable opponent and is proposed to debut in the rankings at #10. The proposal passes despite a few protests and Sandor Martin is bumped out.  

On Saturday, 4 contenders from 4 of the traditional 8 “glamour” divisions are in action in Japan, England, and the USA. See UPCOMING BOUTS for a view of who.

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