Vincent Ethier / Eye of the TigerChristian Mbilli and Lester Martinez could have another chance to settle their differences.
The pair of unbeaten super middleweights were ordered to begin negotiations for an immediate rematch, the WBC ruled on Wednesday. Mbilli and Martinez are just days removed from their Fight of the Year contender, which resulted in a split decision draw this past Saturday on Netflix from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The official verdict allowed Mbilli – a Cameroon Olympian now based in Montreal – to retain his interim WBC 168lbs title on the Terence Crawford-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez undercard. However, the secondary belt at stake provided the necessary avenue for Guatemala’s Martinez to file a request for a return bout.
The matter was presented to the WBC Board of Governors, who unanimously approved the motion.
Ironically, a winner would have been forced to wait out the next decision by Crawford, 42-0 (31 KOs), who claimed the undisputed 168lbs championship in the historic win over Alvarez, 63-3-2 (39 KOs).
There is the possibility that Crawford – who turns 38 later this month – will call it a career after securing the legacy-defining win and gargantuan payday that came with the event. Crawford only moved up to 154lbs last summer and was one-and-done at the weight – a WBA title win, though he was relieved of the belt once the bell sounded for his clash with Alvarez.
Few believed that Saturday’s main event would have next faced either Mbilli or Martinez, both of whom pose high risk and low reward to elite fighters.
With that, Saturday’s verdict from their Netflix undercard bout and Wednesday’s ruling provide the best-case scenario for both boxers.
Mbilli, 29-0-1 (24 KOs), is promoted by Eye of the Tiger Management, already a working partner with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season who financed Saturday’s event. Martinez, 19-0-1 (16 KOs), is a stablemate of Crawford’s – both train under Brian “Bomac” McIntyre – and has cut his teeth on the ProBox TV circuit (Writer’s note: ProBox TV founder Garry Jonas owns BoxingScene).
A 30-day negotiation period will be assigned with the recent ruling, with a designated purse bid also scheduled in the event the two sides cannot come to an agreement.
While Mbilli is the current interim WBC title, it is possible that the full version of the belt is at stake for this ordered rematch. That will be up to Crawford to decide whether to hold his belts, and what awaits his boxing future.
Mbilli claimed the secondary version of the belt in a firstt round knockout of Maciej Sulecki on June 27 in Quebec City, Canada. The decision to request that title at stake was an insurance policy precisely for a scenario such as this. At the time, Mbilli hoped to force a mandatory title shot against Mexico’s Alvarez had he defeated Crawford.
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.
