For years, Christian Mbilli has repeated it: facing Canelo Alvarez is his dream fight. But before getting there, several fights have shaped Solide and turned him into the WBC super-middleweight champion he is today.
“The goal is always to let him see pretty much everything he could encounter before reaching the major fights, so that he won’t be thrown off when we get to the big fight. And it’s a long process,” said Christian Mbilli’s trainer, Marc Ramsay, during an interview.
Marc Ramsay has shaped several of the world’s greatest talents, including Artur Beterbiev, David Lemieux and Jean Pascal. Christian Mbilli could very well be the next to join that list of boxers who have left their mark on Quebec boxing, with a victory on October 31.
To highlight the historical significance of this fight, Marc Ramsay looked back at the five bouts that, in his eyes, paved the way for this unique opportunity to face Canelo Alvarez on Halloween in Saudi Arabia.
Photo: Vincent Ethier – Christian Mbilli
Nadjib Mohammedi
On March 26, 2022, Christian Mbilli delivered one of the most spectacular knockouts ever seen at the Casino de Montréal, stopping Nadjib Mohammedi in the fifth round.
This fight may not be the most prestigious on Christian’s résumé, but Ramsay has a very specific reason for believing it helped his fighter take a step forward.
Like Christian, Mohammedi is a French boxer. This “local” matchup therefore allowed Christian to experience a genuine wave of media attention for the first time.
“Maybe we didn’t feel it as much in Quebec, but in France, people were talking about it a lot. There was a lot of pressure on Christian’s shoulders,” the trainer explained.
He also explained that this is a test he likes to put several of his boxers through. Exposing them early in their careers to the noise and media attention allows them to step onto a bigger stage without being completely overwhelmed, where the spotlight is significantly more intense.
And if the knockout he delivered against Nadjib Mohammedi is any indication, Christian passed that first test with flying colors.
Photo: Vincent Ethier – Nadjib Mohammedi vs Christian Mbilli
Carlos Gongora
You can probably see where I’m going with this, but once again, Christian gave the fans at the Casino de Montréal another unforgettable memory on March 23, 2023, defeating Carlos Gongora by unanimous decision.
But it wasn’t without adversity. Christian was genuinely hurt in the eighth round of the fight, in what many considered to be “the round of the year.”
“In all the early rounds, he was dominating, but we all know what happened at a certain point. He got hit hard in the eighth round. But experiencing that and being able to recover and regain control of the situation while continuing to box taught him not to panic when that kind of thing happens,” Marc Ramsay said emphatically.
He also explained the importance of experiencing this type of situation earlier in a fighter’s career, so they don’t make the same mistakes against a higher-level opponent who will be capable of ending the fight.
Everyone would agree that a Canelo who hurts his opponent in that way will have an even more dangerous killer instinct.
Without taking anything away from Carlos Gongora, Canelo is in a class of his own.
Photo: Vincent Ethier – Christian Mbilli vs Carlos Gongora
Sergiy Derevyanchenko
On August 17, 2024, Christian Mbilli faced a Ukrainian boxer who had shared the ring with several of the best fighters of his generation.
The former Olympian had faced Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, Carlos Adames, Jaime Munguia and others.
Yet even without victories in those matchups, one thing kept coming up: they had all been competitive fights right to the end.
But not against Christian. Instead, the Frenchman dominated from start to finish against an opponent Marc Ramsay described as “crafty.”
“It’s a fight where he had to deal with a challenge, but this time it wasn’t physical; it was more tactical,” he explained.
The trainer added that Derevyanchenko had a high-level ability to adapt and that this was a fight in which Solide learned to quickly implement new elements when his corner asked him to make adjustments between rounds.
Photo: Vincent Ethier – Christian Mbilli vs Sergiy Derevyanchenko
Maciej Sulecki
Alright, this one may not have been the fight that had Christian Mbilli’s supporters pulling out the most hair, but it remains an important one nonetheless.
On June 27, 2025, he was crowned interim WBC world champion by defeating Maciej Sulecki with a devastating uppercut in the very first round.
“At that point, it was no longer trial and error. We were no longer in the laboratory. We had reached full maturity, and we had to perform that night,” Ramsay said.
He also explained that it was after this fight that he truly believed his protégé had a real chance of securing a fight against Canelo.
For years, the Quebec trainer has been chasing a fight with the Mexican boxer, whether with David Lemieux, Artur Beterbiev or now Christian Mbilli.
But Marc insists that Canelo only fights champions, and without a title, it simply wasn’t really possible.
That night, with the quick victory, the door opened.
Photo: Jocelyn Riendeau – Christian Mbilli vs Maciej Sulecki
Lester Martinez
And the final fight on Marc Ramsay’s list should still be fresh in every boxing fan’s memory. It was Christian’s most recent fight, on September 13, 2025, against the formidable Lester Martinez.
That same night, Canelo also fought for the final time, against none other than Terence Crawford.
And that may be what made the experience so crucial for Mbilli.
The fight took place on a Zuffa Boxing card at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, in front of the largest crowd of his career.
“It was a difficult fight, but that’s something we had already learned to handle. It was the stage that was important—the fact that he was going into a major event, with so many spectators, so many broadcasters and the entire world’s attention on him. That was a first for Mbilli, and I’m really glad he experienced that before facing Canelo. It won’t be anything new when we get to Saudi Arabia,” Marc Ramsay said.
For those wondering whether Christian was able to handle that pressure, one fact says it all: he won Fight of the Night.
The two boxers put on a fight worthy of a movie. Neither was willing to back down, throwing everything they could in an attempt to secure the victory, ultimately resulting in a draw.
Photo: Ed Mulholland – Christian Mbilli vs Lester Martinez
