Lester Martinez vs. Immanuwel Aleem Keys to Victory: Breaking down tactics of each fighter

On the same night that WBC middleweight world champion Carlos Adames fights Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams in Orlando, Florida, and live on DAZN, Lester Martinez and Immanuwel Aleem will vie for the WBC interim super middleweight title in San Bernardino, California.

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Martinez (19-0-1, 16 KOs) delivered a splashy performance on the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford card in September, fighting Christian Mbilli to a draw in a fire fight. He will clash against Aleem (22-3-3, 14 KOs) who produced a ninth-round TKO victory over Demond Nicholson last July.

The winner will put himself in position to fight Mbilli, the WBC super middleweight world titleholder. That said, DAZN News examines the Keys to Victory between both fighters.

Lester Martinez’ Keys to Victory

Try to get something going from the outside

Like a magnetic pull, it did not take long for Lester Martinez and Christian Mbilli to engage on the inside back in their all-action September fight.

That said, he is going to pressure forward against Immanuwel Aleem as well.

However, that does not mean that Martinez should forgo trying to assert a jab from the outside against Immanuwel Aleem. Landing the stick cleanly and scoring from the perimeter will show levels to Martinez’ fight game — not to mention, win him some points along the way.

Use push-off tactics

Watch Martinez in action and he does a great job of creating space between himself and his opponents with inside tactics.

Sometimes this could be a simple shoulder bump. Others, it could be an actual push-off with both gloves to his opponent's chest. Either way, the subtle tactics have Martinez carving out the distance needed to operate and unload some heavier-handed shots. Using these tactics against Aleem should only aid Martinez’ cause.

Launch uppercuts in the pocket

Martinez’ uppercuts in the phone booth are slicing, blunt weapons which he keeps compact to leverage maximum impact.

When he is forehead to forehead with Aleem in the pocket, Martinez must uncork these shots — which he detonates well with both hands — to devastating results.

Immanuwel Aleem’s Keys to Victory

Pepper Martinez with the jab

It is going to be difficult to keep a forward-fighting force like Lester Martinez off of him, but Immanuwel Aleem still must try.

His jab could be the best remedy toward that goal, especially if he has success picking off an incoming Martinez with the stick to split the Guatemalan fighter’s guard.

Dig to the body

Mbilli had success digging to Martinez’ body and Aleem can too if he makes it a conscious effort to make these deposits a regular part of his arsenal.

Be ready with the left hook

If Martinez is going to initiate contact with his shoulder to wedge space between he and Aleem, the American fighter must be ready with his left hook.

Mbilli was effective with the shot in cramped quarters, uncorking it after shoulder-to-shoulder contact. Aleem should be sitting on it as well. The more compact he could unload the punch, the better its effects and his chances for the upset will be.

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