SAN BERNARDINO, California – Lester Martinez achieved history and a title of significance Saturday night, outworking and out-pounding Immanuwel Aleem to capture the WBC interim super middleweight belt.
Winning by scores of 118-110, 119-109 and 120-108, Martinez, 30, became the first world boxing titleholder from Guatemala, positioning him strongly with the interim title for the next shot at the winner of the mid-September WBC super middleweight title fight between new belt holder Christian Mbilli, of Canada, and Mexico’s four-division and former 168lbs undisputed titlist Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
With a sellout crowd of his Guatemalan countrymen inspired by their extended national anthem, Martinez, 20-0-1, relied on his brawn and improving skills to subdue Virginia’s game Aleem, 22-4-3.
Martinez is expected to return to the ring in late August as part of the Guatemalan “El Chapin” festival in Los Angeles.
The bout was preceded by a series of short fights, as the six bouts before the main event were over by the end of the third round.
Aleem started with activity, pumping his jab at the body and head in the first round, but that exposed him to a power left in the final minute after a hard right let Aleem taste Martinez’s ominous strength.
Martinez waited through two jabs early in the second, then starched Aleem with a right, setting in motion a round of brutality that featured an onslaught of power punches that severely slowed Aleem and left him struggling to defend himself.
Martinez went to the body and flung hammer shots with both hands as Aleem was reduced to displaying his toughness while absorbing a world of hurt.
In Aleem’s corner, his father-trainer, Omar Aleem, seemed to be urging a desperate response, but Martinez hurt Aleem with a massive right, freeing him to pursue with abandon. A rugged combination on the ropes was like salt in Aleem's wound.
To his credit, Aleem mustered a scoring combination to open the fifth, and an uppercut jarred Martinez, but the unbeaten fighter nodded appreciation and then sent back his own effective array.
An uppercut and two flush rights by Martinez again tested Aleem’s stamina in the sixth, and the veteran heartily pressed on through the attack.
Martinez accelerated the pressure in the seventh to fully test Aleem’s endurance as the veteran former Premier Boxing Champions product ate some rights and stood as if saying, “That’s all you’ve got?” at round’s end.
A developing knot on Aleem’s forehead revealed the wear, and Martinez continued showcasing his useful and heavy uppercut.
Aleem promised a formidable outing, and by landing two hard lefts to start the ninth, he had fulfilled his word.
Martinez emphasized he was the better man this night by planting an onslaught of power blows on Virginia's Aleem in the round’s final half.
The extra rounds also permitted Martinez to flex the effectiveness of his left hand, which he leaned on in last year’s WBC Fight of the Year, a September draw with Mbilli.
Aleem showed Martinez he would be wise to shore up his defense against the left hand. Yet, Martinez’s granite chin allows him to exchange an opening for power shots that can turn a round to his favor.
For Martinez, it was also his first time into the 12th round, and the fact that he performed as freshly there as the early sessions is cause for some rejoice, given that Alvarez and Mbilli are renown for not going down.Lester Martinez cruises to wide decision versus Aleem
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
