BOTH Christian Mbilli and Lester Martinez were left feeling aggrieved with the result, a 10-round draw, after treating fans to an all-action super-middleweight war in Las Vegas.
One judge had it in favour of Mbilli, 29-0-1 (24 KOs), the WBC ‘interim’ champion, by a margin of 96-94, only for reflections of 97-93 and 95-95 to deny him a tremendous victory on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.
With brute force and non-stop punching, the leading contender had got off to a relentless start as he motored forward, not affording his opponent even an inch of breathing space.
The second round then delivered much the same, only Martinez, 19-0-1 (16 KOs), managed to respond with several counters which, at least momentarily, forced Mbilli to think twice before launching his next attack.
But still, the aggressive bruiser continued to press forward, winging in thumping hooks to the head and body, while Martinez opted for greater selection of his attacks.
That approach, however, offered very little resistance by way of defence, as the bombs of Mbilli looked increasingly less likely to get defused.
The sixth round, in fairness, did see Martinez enjoy greater success with his right hand but, again, Mbilli was all over him like a rash.
That remarkable work rate was then maintained in the later rounds, with Martinez desperately attempting to make a dent in his swarming target.
He did not quite manage that, but a more encouraging eighth round nonetheless saw him land several right hands over the top of Mbilli’s guard.
Then, in the final two rounds, Mbilli was left fighting to suppress his fatigue while Martinez, the more crafty technician, continued to enjoy a promising spell of success.
In that sense, it was almost a fight of two halves, with Martinez’s more fluid footwork proving to be a decisive factor down the stretch.
