When the judges’ scorecards were read revealing that Lester Martinez had stepped up to boxing’s highest stage and produced a fight-of-the-year candidate by gaining a draw with top-ranked super-middleweight Christian Mbilli, Martinez trainer Brian “BoMac” McIntyre encouraged his fighter.
“We won – with the boxing world, we won,” McIntyre said that September 13 night at Allegiant Stadium. “They had heard about you. But to put on the performance you did here. Against Mbilli! You actually won.”
When the expectation that France’s WBC interim 168lbs champion Mbilli 29-0-1 (24 KOs) would avoid Martinez rather than accept the WBC-ordered immediate rematch became official, McIntyre repeated, “[Martinez] actually won.
“For [Team Mbilli] to say, ‘No, I don’t wanna go right back into a fight like that … that’s the proof of who Lester really is,” McIntyre said.
Martinez 19-0-1 (16KOs) will move to a March main event on ProBoxTV, company founder and BoxingScene owner Garry Jonas said this week.
And Mbilli is moving to a planned bout expected to occur in January versus former 154lbs champion and recent super-middleweight title challenger Jaime Munguia of Mexico.
“I don’t see Mbilli getting beat. Munguia has slowed down,” ProBoxTV analyst Paulie Malignaggi said on Wednesday’s episode of “BoxingScene Today” in reference to Munguia’s December 2024 upset knockout loss to France’s Bruno Surace.
Yet, ProBoxTV analyst and former 140lbs champion Chris Algieri said he can see what’s transpired here: After going through a hellacious boxing war, the Mbilli team is taking a step toward long-term preservation by not going right back to Martinez, whose surging effort to close the bout made him a 97-93 winner on one scorecard.
“[Mbilli] went to a dark place versus Lester while it seemed Lester went there, too, and was shown the light,” Algieri said. “Lester was brought out and stepped to the plate [during the fight’s toughest moments] and Mbilli stepped back.
“Does he want to go to the dark places again? We won’t know until they fight.”
McIntyre made clear in his interview with BoxingScene that Martinez was always up for an immediate rematch after telling McIntyre in the ring on fight night, “We’ve got to run that back.”
“Hell, yeah, I wanted it [next],” McIntyre said. “Really, really wanted it, because you know that [first] fight was supposed to be 12 rounds. They changed it late to 10 rounds. We would’ve won had that been 12 rounds. The next one is 12. They stayed away from it.”
McIntyre said he respects any decision aimed at caring to a fighter’s health.
“Fights like that take something out of you, and [Mbilli] fought his ass off, was winning before Lester came back and really pulled it off.
“Lester’s OK with jumping right back into the tough fight because he worked his way back into that fight and looked right at me after it, saying he wanted more. The kid wants it. Let’s get it.”
On Wednesday’s show, Algieri lamented, “God, that was a good fight. Why would [Mbilli] not want to do that again? That’s the problem with boxing. The positive is that the world has seen what Lester Martinez can do, and he’s a bad man.”
Malignaggi said the attention on Mbilli-Munguia helps build the anticipation for Mbilli-Martinez II while considering the possibility that McIntyre’s five-division champion Terence Crawford will vacate his undisputed 168lbs belts next year to pursue a sixth belt at middleweight.
“They’re fighting each other while they’re hungry. All hungry fighters are at their most savage,” Malignaggi said of Martinez and Mbilli.
