By Jack Tanner
Copyright independent
The WBC have ordered an instant rematch between their interim super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli and Lester Martinez following their draw on the undercard of Terence Crawford’s win over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Mbilli and Martinez produced a fight of the year contender, slugging out 10 rounds shortly before Canelo lost all four of his belts at 168lbs. Both boxers landed clean shots and received heavy blows, but somehow managed to shake off each others’ best efforts to make it to the bell.
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Their efforts were recognised by fight fans all over the world, with the super middleweights standing out ahead of the main event.
One judge scored it 96-94 in favour of Mbilli, another had Martinez winning at 97-93, with the final official producing a split decision draw with a score of 95-95.
The tightness of the scorecards, and public engagement in the fight, were cited as the reasons for a rematch being ordered by the WBC board of governors.
A statement on the WBC’s Twitter page read: “(The) WBC board of governors has unanimously voted in favor to order the rematch between WBC interim champion Cristian Mbilli vs Lester Martinez after their sensational fight which ended in a draw with huge public demand for a rematch!”
With the WBC interim super middleweight title on the line, both fighters will see a path to new undisputed champion Crawford. If Crawford opts to vacate his belts, as he has hinted at to pursue glory at 160lbs, the interim belt could be upgraded to full champion status.
The draw enabled both Mbilli and Martinez to remain unbeaten, with their records now reading 29-0-1 (24 KOs) and 19-0-1 (16 KOs), respectively.
Martinez, who worked with Crawford in the build-up to their respective fights with Mbilli and Canelo, shares a trainer with ‘Bud’ – Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre .
At the time of writing there has been no indication that purse bids have been ordered for the rematch. The WBC updated their ratings shortly after the Crawford-Canelo card, with former champion Canelo instated as the number one contender at 168lbs.
Martinez has risen from seventh up to fourth, with Hamzah Sheeraz and Jaime Munguia dropping to second and third respectively.
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