Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez and Terence Crawford finally come together inside the ring this month, a meeting of two undisputed stars with all the super middleweight belts on the line.
Whilst all focus will be on two of boxing’s biggest names, another super middleweight bout could grab the attention – and potentially go on to face the winner of the clash between Canelo and Crawford.
Interim World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Christian Mbilli takes on Lester Martínez on the undercard at the Allegiant Stadium on Saturday, September 13, with each man undefeated and boasting major knockout power. But can they steal the show?
Christian Mbilli and Lester Martínez: Unbeaten fighters able to end fights early
Mbilli and Martínez will walk into the ring with a combined 48 bouts and 40 knockouts between them. Mbilli is the more experienced of the pair, finding victories in all 29 of his bouts to date. Unsuccessful at the 2016 Olympics while representing France, Mbilli quickly turned to the professional game, stringing together 13 straight knockouts to start his paid career. In total he has ended contests early on 24 occasions, winning the remainder via unanimous decision.
Martínez missed out on a trip to that same Olympics, although he continued his amateur career until 2019. He began life in the pro ranks with nine straight knockouts, with only three men able to go the distance with the Guatemalan.
Coincidentally, the last man to survive every round with Martínez, Ecuadorian Carlos Góngora in 2024, also avoided being knocked out by Mbilli in a 2023 bout. That is the only opponent the two rivals have in common to date. Martínez has won 16 of his 19 bouts by way of knockout.
Christian Mbilli and Lester Martínez both coached by notable trainers
Both fighters have experienced and well-respected names in their corners. Mbilli is trained by Montreal-based Marc Ramsay, the partnership having been formed when the Cameroonian-born fighter moved to Quebec to become a professional.
Ramsay’s biggest success story is working with former undisputed light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev, again helping a boxer transition from the amateur code to the paid ranks.
Martínez is trained by Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, the same man in charge of Crawford’s preparations for his fight with Canelo during. The 29-year-old has previously sparred with ‘Bud’, and once again BoMac has turned to the super middleweight as a stand-in for Canelo during Crawford’s training.
Lester Martínez and Christian Mbilli’s crowd-pleasing styles
Both Martínez and Mbilli have a fan-friendly approach when it comes to how they box. The younger man, Martínez, has earned a reputation for boasting heavy hands, although he can also box off the back foot. His use of the ‘Philly Shell’ enables him to pick opponents off on the counter, an advantage that might prove useful against Mbilli.
The former Olympian loves to keep the pressure up via a high volume of punches thrown from both hands. It is the left hook to the body that Martínez will have to watch out for, with Mbilli ending fights by working the torso of his opponents in the past. Mbilli starts off with a high volume of punches, and whilst that naturally dips, he will continue throwing as much as he can throughout a contest. Usually the swarm of punches ends a fight early, but Martínez’s strong ability to time a counter might pose problems for the more-heavily fancied Mbilli.
Discussing the upcoming fight, Martínez’s trainer BoMac told The Ring: “Lester gets stronger every round going into the later rounds, and that’s where Mbilli is going to (tire). They got a quick a** start, can you sustain that start through the whole 36 minutes?”
Mbilli’s own trainer has previously described his man as a “throwback fighter”, believing that his style has remained similar since his time as an amateur.
In an interview with boxingnewsonline.net in 2024, Ramsay claimed: “To be honest with you, he always had the right style even when he was an amateur fighter.
“For me, it was not to identify the best amateur boxer, but to identify the guy who can become the best professional. His style was already very professional when he came to us and worked with our team. We worked on specific things to create maximum performance, but we still had to make sure that he grew up to be a man.
“He’s a big pressure fighter, he’s an offensive fighter and throws a big volume of punches. He’s a full action fighter, I believe people like these throwback type fighters.”
Best knockout of Christian Mbilli’s career
Mbilli’s most recent win was over within the first round, the 30-year-old comfortably dispatching Maciej Sulęcki to take the interim WBC title.
In control of the contest, Mbilli released a textbook uppercut that chopped down his Polish opponent. With just over 30 seconds left of the round, the referee called the contest off despite Sulęcki managing to get back to his feet. Mbilli has a penchant for explosive punches at close range, with a left hook ending his contest with Nadjib Mohammedi early in 2022.
Lester Martínez’s best stoppage to date
Martínez’s last fight produced a sickening KO, with the Guatemalan stopping Joeshon James in the fourth round of their contest in March this year. The bout arguably should have ended the round prior, with Martínez sending his opponent to the floor with a windmill to the temple.
James looked shaky getting to his feet, but survived the final 10 seconds or so before the bell went to end the round.
All Martínez had to do was maintain the pressure, a right hook again buckling the already weak legs of James. One final flurry had James staggering to the canvas, with the fight finally being called off.
Winner of Mbilli-Martínez will eye Canelo or Crawford next
At the start of the year, Mbilli was namedropped by Canelo himself as a potential future opponent – with Álvarez instead opting to reunite all four belts at super middleweight by facing then-IBF champion William Scull.
If Mbilli preserves his status as WBC interim champion, then he has a direct shot at Canelo. However, Canelo’s agreement with Turki Alalshikh might see him steered in another direction.
Alalshikh has made it clear that he would love to see Hamzah Sheeraz face Álvarez. WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán has presented an alternative – Sheeraz and Mbilli going head-to-head to determine who will face Canelo.
In July, Sulaimán told Brunch Boxing: “We had a final elimination with Sheeraz against Berlanga, and Sheeraz won, so he earned the right to fight Mbilli.
“We want to build a tremendous fight to have a mandatory challenger for the undisputed.”
Of course, if both Martínez and Crawford are victorious, logistics might cause a headache. Both trained by BoMac, it feels unlikely that the pair’s shared gym will be keen for the two to fight each other. If Crawford does beat Canelo, there is no guarantee he will remain at 168lbs moving forward.
Bud is stepping up two weight classes in order to make the fight with Canelo, skipping the middleweight division entirely. Whether Crawford can continue to compete at 168lbs will be a big question asked, no matter the result of his bout with Canelo.
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