SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – After two late notice withdrawals ahead of fights with Joeshon James, Lester Martinez is hoping to put the on-off rivalry behind them with victory on Saturday night.

The 29-year-old Guatemalan is trained by Brian “BoMac” McIntyre and is 18-0 (15 KOs), notching victories over Ruben Angulo and Carlos Gongora in 2024.

But twice Martinez had to pull out against James and now McIntrye wants Martinez to put the chapter behind him with victory on Saturday in San Bernardino, California on ProBox TV. 

“I’m really excited for the simple fact this fight’s been postponed twice and people probably think, ‘Oh man, they’re scared of [James],” McIntrye, who most notably trains pound-for-pound talent Terence Crawford, told BoxingScene. 

“I told Garry [Jonas], ‘Our next fight’s got to be against that dude [James].’ Lester went through the camp for the first fight with a small tear … went through therapy, but stayed in camp, went through a treatment in Arizona. Then the whole house got sick: Lester, me, another coach, the other fighters. Everybody got sick. I call Garry and say, ‘He can’t do it, he’s sick as a dog.’ He got worse and worse. But the whole time, he stayed in camp. Now, he’s ready. I saw James the other day. ‘Damn, that [guy’s] big, but next to Lester, he’s about the same size. There’ll be a tough couple rounds, but with Lester’s determination and being in shape, he’s tricky, dog.”

The ten-round super middleweight bout will headline the event at Orange Show Events Center.