Christian Mbilli is just days away from his biggest fight to date, which will take place on Friday in Quebec City, Canada. Heading into his first major title fight, he says he is planning to make his opponent, Maciej Sulecki, pay for all the hard work he’s had to put in for training.

“I always say that after such a difficult journey, this entire training camp, and all the ups and downs, there has to be someone who will pay the price. And think Sulecki will have to pay for it on Friday,” said Mbilli, 28-0 (23 KOs), at Wednesday’s press conference at Centre Videotron, where their WBC interim super middleweight title fight will take place.

Sulecki, 33-3 (13 KOs), of Warsaw, Poland is coming off one of his biggest wins to date, a tenth round stoppage of Ali Akhmedov in February, to earn the WBC silver belt at 168lbs. The 36-year-old Sulecki had previously challenged for a world title, losing a shutout to Demetrius Andrade in 2019, but was knocked out in six rounds by Diego Pacheco last August.

"I’m not going to say that I will put him out faster than Diego Pacheco did. But I can promise a more spectacular fight, and that, at the end of it, Sulecki will feel more pain than after his fight with Pacheco,” said Mbilli.

“That said, if the KO happens, good, because I’m not paid to do overtime."

Sulecki, for his part, says he isn’t intimidated by his opponent despite his unbeaten record, saying he has had a good training camp.

“I know Christian Mbilli is a good fighter. He is very strong and aggressive, and sometimes he’s very wild in the ring. But I know what I have to do in the ring. I’m ready,” said Sulecki.

“The most important thing for Mbilli right now is this fight with me. This will be very difficult for him. He can talk all he wants about his plans, but he has to fight me first.”

The fight, which will be promoted by Top Rank and Eye of the Tiger Management, will headline a nine-fight card, which will air live on ESPN+, beginning at 6 p.m. ET.