Boxing
Lester Martinez vs. Immanuwel Aleem: Who has the edge heading into their fight?
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Lester Martinez and Immanuwel Aleem have an incredible opportunity in front of them.
On the same Saturday night that Carlos Adames will defend his WBC middleweight world championship against Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams in Orlando Florida, and live on DAZN, Martinez and Aleem will vie for the interim WBC super middleweight title in San Bernardino, California.
The undefeated Martinez (19-0-1, 16 KOs) last appeared on the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford card in September, fighting Christian Mbilli to a draw in an all-action bout. Meanwhile, Aleem (22-3-3, 14 KOs) is coming off a ninth-round TKO victory over Demond Nicholson back in July.
Who will snatch the interim WBC 168-pound title and line himself up for a crack at Mbilli, the WBC super middleweight champ, in the near future? With the stakes soaring, DAZN News examines who has the edge between Martinez and Aleem.
Boxing Styles
Under the guidance of Brian ‘Bomac’ McIntyre, who trained Terence Crawford, Lester Martinez welcomes inside action where he is adept at sitting on a compact, slicing uppercut with either hand. The Guatemalan is also skilled at using his shoulders to push off on opponents, giving him just the space needed to set up his offense.
His style will be contested by Immanuwel Aleem who picks his spots effectively, choosing apt times on when to pounce with a peppering of punches which he can use for pointed contact or string together for power.
This clash of styles is intriguing, though Martinez’ ability to press the action and keep it in the phone booth — as seen against Christian Mbilli — will likely give Aleem all he could handle.
Edge: Martinez
Power
Aleem can crank up the power shots when warranted, though it feels like everything Martinez throws is for power.
The Guatemalan fighter counts 16 of his 19 victories by the way of knockout for a KO ratio of 84.2%.
Keeping his blows compact only add to the leverage he is able to generate toward maximum impact.
He takes this category comfortably.
Edge: Martinez
Mental Warfare
Fighting a battle-tested Mbilli to a draw on the Canelo-Crawford card marked a splashy performance for Martinez who proved to be a gritty force at super middleweight despite being the underdog.
Martinez should be experiencing a wave of confidence following that showing. Now, he needs to build on that performance with a convincing win over a savvy Aleem.
Martinez gets the slight edge here too.
Edge: Martinez
Who has the edge in Martinez vs. Aleem?
DAZN News has the edge going to Martinez, 3-0, expecting a prime performance to put himself first to get a shot at Mbilli. Aleem is capable of pulling off the upset, though Martinez’ upward trajectory will be hard to derail.
