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Christian Mbilli promises defensive adjustments for Lester Martinez rematch
Ring Magazine
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Manouk Akopyan
Manouk Akopyan
RingMagazine.com
Christian Mbilli promises defensive adjustments for Lester Martinez rematch
Christian Mbilli and Lester Martinez battled it out in a brutal bout and a Fight of the Year contender earlier this month, and it appears a sequel is in store after the initial affair was ruled a split draw.

The WBC has already ordered a much-desired rematch between Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs), the sanctioning body’s super middleweight interim titleholder, and Martinez (19-0-1, 16 KOs) after their heated encounter unfolded on the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“Of course, I am open to the rematch, why not?” Mbilli told The Ring. “We'll see if we get one. Maybe it will be more crushing. Right now, I am ready for anyone, and a big name like Canelo Alvarez or Terence Crawford. I'm ready for everything. I want to fight.”

CompuBox unofficially credited the busier Martinez with 412 landed punches to 273 from Mbilli in the back-and-forth, 10-round slugfest. Martinez also threw 203 more punches. One judge had it 97-93 for Martinez while another had it 96-94 for Mbilli, with a third judge scoring it 95-95.

Mbilli believes he did more than enough to get the victory.




“Me and my team were very surprised by the 97-93 card. Maybe they were looking at another fight, I don't know,” said Mbilli. “I thought I won by two or three rounds. But I'm not the judge. We threw a lot of punches, and a lot of power punches. It was a war. Maybe next I can have better defense. I think I need better defense in the rematch and better transitioning between defense and attacking.”

Despite the lukewarm feeling of walking away with a draw, Mbilli, now The Ring’s No. 3-ranked super middleweight in the world, is still standing in a solid position in the division.

“I am very happy and pleased with the fight,” said Mbilli. “We had the best fight of the night. It was a spectacular fight. Many people thought it would be the fight of the night, and it was.

“The fight went as I expected. Martinez is a very good fighter. He's powerful and has a very good chin. He's very strong and has good conditioning and was taking my power very well.

“Maybe the fight would have been different [if we fought for 12 rounds]. I think we gave all of the energy we had in every round.”

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.
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