Christian Mbilli vs Demond Nicholson Preview September 8th, 2023
There’s a pretty good 10-round super middleweight bout on tap from Gatineau, Quebec on Friday, September 8th as unbeaten Christian Mbilli of Cameroon takes on Demond Nicholson of Laurel, Maryland. The bout can be seen live in America on ESPN+. Mbilli last fought in March when he beat Carlos Congora by a 10-round unanimous decision while Nicholson was last in the ring in January when he was shut out over 10 rounds by former world champion Demetrius Andrade. Mbilli will be putting his WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight Title on the line in this fight.
Mbilli vs Nicholson Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Demond Nicholson +1000
- Christian Mbilli -2000
My Pick
The 28-year-old Mbilli, who fights out of France, enters the ring with a perfect record of 24-0 with 20 Ko’s and has boxed 111 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 83.3 per cent.
Mbilli has been the distance just four times as a pro but was taken the 10-round distance in his last two bouts by Carlos Congora and Vaughn Alexander. As a pro he’s 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, Alexander and Congora.
As for Nicholson, he’s 30 years old and climbs into the ring with a mark of 26-5-1 with 22 Ko’s and has boxed 129 rounds since making his pro debut in 2013 following a pretty good amateur career. He won the 2005 National Silver Gloves Final in the 10/11-year-old division as a youngster. He also reached the 2012 USA National Championship semifinals where he lost to Terrell Gausha. As a pro, his biggest wins have been over the likes of German Perez, Milton Nunez, Joshua Okine, Isaac Rodrigues, Fernando Castaneda, Jessie Nicklow and Christopher Brooker.
Besides losing to Demetrius Andrade in his last outing, his losses came at the hands of Lekan Byfield via sixth-round TKO in 2014, by eight-round split decision to Steve Rolls in 2017, by seventh-round TKO to Jesse Hart in 2018 in a shot at the vacant NABF Super Middleweight Title, and by eight-round unanimous decision to Edgar Berlanga in April, 2021. His lone draw was an eight-round affair with Immanuwel Aleem in 2016. Since turning pro, Nicholson has captured the WBC United States Super Middleweight Title and the vacant USA Maryland State Super Middleweight Belt.
Nicholson measures 6-feet tall with a 73-inch reach which gives him a 3.5-inch height edge on Mbilli as well as an inch in reach. As far as power goes, he also has plenty of it as 84.6 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage, which means he’s always just a punch away form victory or turning a fight around. However, he has just two stoppages in his last seven fights as he halted Gabriel Pham in the fifth round and Christopher Brooker in the third stanza.
Prediction…
Nicholson and Mbilli are both solid pros with skills and power but two of Nicholsons defeats came by stoppage. Nicholson certainly has a puncher’s chance here but I expect Mbilli to remain unbeaten this weekend due to his superior boxing skills and movement with a stoppage being a good bet.
Mbilli is a class above Nicholson at this stage of their careers.
Play: Mbilli -2000 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Christian Mbilli betting • Demond Nicholson betting