Lester Martinez didn’t come away emptyihanded from his terrific clash with Christian Mbilli.
The unbeaten super middleweight from Guatemala was honored by the WBC during the sanctioning body’s “Martes de Café” session on Tuesday in Mexico City. Martinez, 19-0-1 (16 KOs) fought Canada’s Mbilli to a ten-round draw in their terrific WBC interim 168lbs title fight on September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The bout was part of the historic Terence Crawford-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez Netflix show and hailed as the standout fight of the evening. That honor was extended by the WBC, who presented Martinez with a ring in the shape of the WBC’s symbolic green and gold belt.
“I want to thank the WBC for the invitation, and I’m very happy to be here,” Martinez said during Tuesday’s ceremony. “Mexico helped me make my debut and opened the doors for me to fight. Great bouts in Tijuana and Los Mochis.
“What you saw in the fight is part of my story. I would have loved to be here with the title, but hopefully next time we are invited, we’ll bring the belt.”
Tuesday’s session also saw the WBC honor recently crowned WBC/WBA 112lbs flyweight titlist Ricardo Sandoval with his official belt.
Mbilli retained his secondary title for the first time but is not completely out of the woods. The bout was strategically placed on the show, as Mbilli entered as the WBC mandatory challenger. The division’s fully unified crown is now held by Crawford, 42-0 (31 KOs), who outpointed Guadalajara’s Alvarez, 62-3-2 (39 KOs) over 12 rounds to become a three-weight undisputed champion.
However, Mbilli will first have to run it back with Martinez.
“There has never been a world champion from Guatemala,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman noted. “Because the fight was so good—perhaps even the fight of the year—the WBC has ordered a rematch.”
As previously reported by BoxingScene, Mbilli and Martinez were summoned to enter a negotiation period to work out terms for the ordered second fight. A purse bid hearing will be held should the two sides fail to come to terms during the 30-day period.
Crawford and Martinez train together under Brian “Bomac” McIntyre. The relationship could see Crawford pave the way for Martinez to become full WBC titlist, should he defeat Mbilli in their return meeting.
