Photo: Vincent Ethier – “Are you not entertained?”
The battle between Christian Mbilli and Carlos Góngora was promised to be a “five-star fight,” a prediction based on the Boxrec point system. On the night of the fight, at the Casino de Montréal, more than just stars were offered; we were treated to bread, games, the promised fascinating violence, and the accompanying thrills.
“It was one of the best fights I’ve seen in my life!” exclaimed an amazed Lou DiBella, despite the loss of his protégé, the Ecuadorian Góngora, by unanimous decision. “Now, I’m a huge fan of this kid!” he added, without malice or bitterness, speaking of the victorious warrior, Christian Mbilli.
Still, the fact that it was one of the “best fights” the New York promoter had seen in his life carries weight. We’re talking about someone who was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2022, a guy who has seen many fights, but nothing that perfectly describes what he saw on Thursday night on Sainte-Hélène Island.
The 8th Round
What DiBella and the spectators felt was incomparable to what the two boxers, princes of war and modern-day gladiators, had to endure. It’s a bit premature to announce a fight of the year in March, but it’s entirely justified to at least close the books on the round of the year; THE 8th round.
“You know, when you dedicate your life as much as I do to your career, you can’t afford to make mistakes. In that 8th round, I saw my work, I saw my hours of suffering in training, and I saw my goals. I told myself, ‘if you don’t survive this round, you have no business being here’… That’s when I found my cojones to tell myself, ‘no, today, he doesn’t hurt me, I’m stronger than him,'” recounted Mbilli, nicknamed “Solide” for a reason.
“I admire and am fascinated by all types of courage […]. Today, I think I am a fairly courageous person. I immigrated here to Canada and left my family in France. Once again, in that 8th round, I thought about that, I couldn’t afford to make mistakes… I couldn’t fall today. That was the path, that was victory, end of story,” he added, not without tipping his hat to Góngora.
After his fight, in a few days, when he returns home to Latin America, he will be able to leave Montreal with his head as high as his plane will carry him…
Fusion Atmosphere
From the first moment, it only took a few seconds before the feeling-out round “went out the window,” to quote a prominent blogger from Rosemont. On the edge of their seats from start to finish, the audience didn’t hesitate to chant well-supported “Mbilli” cheers to give energy to their favorite.
“It would have undoubtedly been more difficult without them […], I really want to thank them,” testified the Canadian-French-Cameroonian, grateful.
In just over three months, the charismatic puncher had the crowds of Nantes and then Montreal on their feet. It seems that Quebec and France have not been in such communion since Charles de Gaulle shouted “Vive le Québec libre!” in ’67. Has anyone experienced both events? Good question. Réjean Tremblay did cover Elvis’s funeral, but that was in ’77.
Roller Coaster of Emotions
If Christian Mbilli never doubted, the members of his team, seeing such a war, had their share of cold sweats and the full range of accompanying emotions. Ask his promoter.
“I was emotionally invested, so it was clearly much more exaggerated in my head,” described Camille Estephan, proud of his boxer. “It’s the heart he showed. A guy who hurts himself like that, who keeps attacking, who doesn’t stop and never backs down […], he has a real motivation engine in him, something I’ve never seen before,” described the founder of Eye of the Tiger.
Even closer to the action, in “Solide’s” corner, when a media member asked Marc Ramsay what was going through his mind in the 8th round and throughout the fight, the introduction of his response was brief but oh so significant: “Ahh’ lots of things..!”
For a Few Dollars More
In all these testimonies, one could first feel the satisfaction of the work accomplished, and that, against an “elite” boxer. One could also feel the pressure dropping. In fact, it already felt diminishing when the last bell rang at the end of the 10th round because once it came to the judges’ decision, the verdict was clear. Among the scores: a 97-93, a 98-92, and a 99-91. The latter is a bit generous, according to most observers, but no drama, the right winner was chosen, so everyone went to bed in peace.
In the end, the spectators unanimously agreed on one thing, without any specific order: Mbilli-Góngora is one of the best fights Quebec has ever hosted. In the list, there is probably also ‘The Brawl in Montreal,’ fought between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran, in front of thousands of people at the Olympic Stadium in ’80.
More than 40 years later, the crowd was again in a frenzy, it “had to” be there, but too few had that chance, as the capacity was limited to about 600 people. At least there was the Punching Grace streaming service, which for a handful of dollars (eleven to be exact), broadcast the event. At that price, after seeing Mbilli battle Góngora, viewers must have wondered where to leave the tip…
Keeping the dream alive
Let this evening be proof that with “Mbilli” at its helm, Quebec boxing is in good hands. Because in the end, once the clock struck twelve-thirty, the last subway had passed, and the arena was dismantled, Camille Estephan’s dream of an Olympic Stadium seemed a little less crazy.
