Thrilling Battle Between Christian Mbilli and Lester Martinez Ends in Split Draw – Canelo vs. Crawford Highlights
Christian Mbilli and Lester Martinez put on an exciting scrap as part of Saturday’s Canelo vs. Crawford card in Las Vegas.
Mbilli came out immediately looking to go on the attack, hammering shots to the body of Martinez. That trend continued in the second stanza, with both fighters content to stand and trade in the phone booth.
Through three rounds of action, Mbilli outlanded Martinez by a margin of 119-78, but Martinez started to turn the tide in round five, pressuring Mbilli and matching the Cameroonian’s output. That proved to be a successful strategy, but Martinez was unable to keep it up for long as he started to show signs of fatigue near the halfway point of the fight.
Things really started to heat up in the eighth after Mbilli seemingly hurt Martinez with a slick right hand. Mbilli followed it up with an onslaught of strikes, but Martinez connected with an overhand right straight to Mbilli’s chin. Mbilli came right back, closing out the stanza with a two-piece combo.
Both fighters found their moments in the 10th and final round, with Martinez connecting on a three-punch combo early on. He followed that up with a pair of uppercuts, but that didn’t stop Mbilli from connecting with a big counter left.
Mbilli and Martinez slugged it out for the remainder of the round, though neither was able to land the fight-ending blow, sending us to the scorecards.
Official Result: Christian Mbilli vs. Lester Martinez is ruled a split draw (93-97, 96-94, 95-95).
