LOS ANGELES – An adoring, heavily Guatemalan audience roared its support for the possible new WBC interim titleholder Lester Martinez Wednesday at a news conference staged at a multicultural center.
And that’s just the beginning.
ProBox TV founder Garry Jonas tells BoxingScene that Martinez, 19-0-1 (13 KOs), is targeted after a potential victory Saturday night in San Bernardino to return to Southern California on August 28 for a first defense of the WBC interim super middleweight belt that will be on the line this weekend.
The fact that Saturday’s show is a sellout event with a capacity crowd of 3,500 expected caused Jonas to remark, “I probably should’ve gone and got an arena, but we’re excited about the prospects for next time.”
Jonas said he’ll search for a venue near Lafayette Park in Los Angeles after trying for the 10,000-seat Toyota Arena in Ontario, California, this time.
The August event will be linked to the Guatemalan “El Chapin” weekend festival that typically draws about 100,000 people to Los Angeles, where an estimated 1.5 million Guatemalans reside.
Saturday, Martinez, 19-0-1 (13 KOs), is attempting at age 30 to become the first Guatemalan world boxing titlist.
“We’re already coordinating with [festival organizers] to make his August 28 fight part of the festival,” Jonas said. “We’re going to work on which arena downtown. It’s a great opportunity, and the Guatemalan fan base has really surprised me.”
In a wide-ranging interview with BoxingScene, which Jonas owns, the entrepreneur said part of what has fueled the fervent interest in Martinez’s Saturday fight versus WBC-ranked contender Immanuwel Aleem, 22-3-3 (14 KOs), is the success of Saturday’s early frontrunner for Fight of the Year, with ProBox TV light heavyweight Najee Lopez overcoming a cut at his eye and knocking out Manuel Gallegos in the eighth round of their riveting bout.
“You make fights and hope they come out,” Jonas said. “And sometimes they don’t. And then sometimes you have a little bit of good fortune. More often than not, we’ve been getting it right, and the fans are starting to take notice.
“For Najee to have that kind of performance the week before our biggest event, it just puts this event on steroids, so to speak. They’ve got a high bar to live up to, but I think they’ll get it done.”
With ProBox fights streamed live on YouTube, Prime Video and many other sites, Jonas will see his promotion quickly turn the page from Lopez’s gritty victory to this high-stakes bout for the promotion’s key fighter, Martinez.
“For every fighter, it’s their world, and we have to look at it in the collective,” Jonas said upon being asked if all his eggs are in the proverbial basket here, knowing two victories can move Martinez to a super middleweight title shot against the mid-September victor of new WBC 168lbs belt holder Christian Mbilli versus former undisputed and four-division champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
“Fighters look at it in the individual. It’s a big fight for Lester, and he’s looking to get it done, to declare himself as the guy in the 168lbs division,” Jonas said.
“As far as we’re concerned, we feel the stable is strong. We’re rolling out a tremendous stable, and the fans are starting to take notice. Professional boxing is what it is. Some guys are going to win, some guys are going to lose. I’ve always told my guys, ‘Bring it, be entertaining, and you’re coming back.’ One loss here or there doesn’t change a thing. We match ‘em evenly, expect action fighters and we don’t worry about a loss.”
That said, victory is essential for Martinez to land the winner of Alvarez and Mbilli in 2027 after Martinez and Mbilli battled to a WBC Fight of the Year draw in September at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.
Martinez trainer Brian “Bomac” McIntyre told BoxingScene on Wednesday he has full confidence Jonas can move an unbeaten Martinez to the Mbilli-Alvarez winner.
“That’s a tough one,” Jonas said, laughing. “Canelo does what Canelo wants. He’s deserved that at this point in his career. It’s going to come down to Canelo. If Canelo wants to do it, it’ll probably happen. If he doesn’t want to, it’s probably not going to happen.”
First arrives Aleem, an older, more experienced foe who speaks confidently along with his father-trainer, Omar Aleem, about upsetting -1800 betting favorite Martinez.
“Aleem, I knew what he brought to the fight. It’s a big-boy weight division, where one punch can change everything at any time,” Jonas said. “Lester’s going to have to be at his best and continue to show his level. He showed a level against Mbilli, but in the first half of the fight, it wasn’t there. It was the tale of two fights. So we have to hope he comes prepared and brings his A-game, and if he does, I hope he’ll prevail.
“But I’m glad I don’t know he’ll prevail. That’s a ProBox fight.”
Meanwhile, with Jonas striking a deal with Japan’s Teiken Promotions for ProBox TV’s unanimously ranked bantamweight contender Katsuma Akitsugi to make a home-country debut April 11 in Tokyo versus Mexico’s Jose Miguel Calderon, he also shared news on two other ProBox lynchpins.
IBF featherweight titleholder Angelo Leo will defend his belt May 9 in Detroit versus mandatory contender and Michigan native Raeese Aleem in a card expected to be promoted by Salita Promotions and staged on DAZN, Jonas said.
Also, former junior lightweight belt holder Lamont Roach Jnr is in talks for a next fight that could be a WBC lightweight title bout against recent title challenger William Zepefa, of Mexico, Jonas said.
“By whatever day, it could be [Gervonta] ‘Tank’ [Davis] or it could be [Mexico’s Isaac] ‘Pitbull’ [Cruz],” for Roach, Jonas said. “Now, we’re talking to Zepeda.
“It’s just a complicated division with a lot of moving parts. We’ll have it sorted out during the next couple of weeks, but it could land anywhere.”
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.
