Christian Mbilli vs Lester Martinez set for Canelo-Crawford undercard

Christian Mbilli will take on Lester Martinez in an intriguing super middleweight matchup, with the fight officially set for the Canelo vs Crawford undercard on September 13 in Las Vegas.

Mbilli (29-0, 24 KO) will be defending his WBC interim super middleweight title against Martinez (19-0, 16 KO) in what looks, on paper, to be a potentially explosive fight.

The 30-year-old Mbilli, born in Cameroon, representing France, and fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, is seen by most as the No. 2 super middleweight in the sport, just behind Canelo, and a win in this fight, on this card, could finally see him getting closer to a bout with the Mexican superstar next year.

The move toward that huge opportunity has been a slow one, and we know that if Canelo wins in September, Turki Alalshikh has designs on Alvarez facing Hamzah Sheeraz in early 2026, but Mbilli could be in position for the Canelo bout in a year’s time or so, in theory.

But Argentina’s Martinez, 29, will look to disrupt all of that. He’s not exactly the most proven contender, with his best win coming a little over a year ago against Carlos Gongora on a smaller show in Washington, DC, but you can argue just as easily that Mbilli hasn’t really been able to prove that much fighting in Canada, too, with his best win arguably against an injured Sergiy Derevyanchenko about a year ago.

Both have something to prove, and Mbilli being more well-known may simply come down to the fact that he had Top Rank association and thus his fights aired on ESPN networks and/or streaming services for quite a while there.

The Mbilli team hope that a good performance and a win can convince Canelo and Turki Alalshikh that he deserves the next shot.

“I plan to seize this opportunity to show (Alalshikh) that I’m the rightful challenger for the winner of (Canelo vs Crawford),” Mbilli said. “And I intend to do it by staying true to my style, to myself, and by putting on a spectacular fight. This victory will elevate my status globally, my greatness, and most importantly, show the world who Christian ‘Solide’ Mbilli is.”

““We’ve been talking for years about sending a message to Canelo, but this time, we’ll have the chance to deliver it in person,” said Eye of the Tiger Management’s Camille Estephan. “Once that’s done, Christian Mbilli will be undeniable, because the whole world will want to see him in the biggest fights.”