Lester Martinez made history of sorts last night in San Bernardino, CA, as he dominantly outworked Immanuwel Aleem to win the WBC Interim super middleweight title, a belt he failed to capture last September against champion Christian Mbilli, when the pair fought to a draw over twelve hard-fought rounds.
Martinez was dialed in from the start, outworking Aleem at every turn. While Aleem appeared to have his best rounds in the first and eleventh, and battled on even terms in several others, the judges weren’t impressed, awarding Aleem a combined three rounds out of a possible thirty-six. The scores were 118-110, 119-109, and 120-108, all for Martinez. There were no knockdowns.
As for his future plans, Martinez wants to focus on the full WBC title, potentially facing the winner of the proposed Mbilli-Canelo match, although that fight has not been signed to date. Martinez also remains undefeated at 20-0-1, 14 KOs, while Aleem drops to 22-4-3, 14 KOs.
In a strange turn of events, undefeated Joshua Kevin Anton (13-0, 12 KOs) of Palmdale, California, picked up the WBC Continental Americas Super Welterweight Championship with a surprise stoppage of former top contender Kudratillo “The Punisher” Abdukakhorov (22-6, 14 KOs) of Andijan, Uzbekistan.
Although a warrior in spirit with plenty of pitched battles in his history, Abdukakhorov began clutching his head in pain at the conclusion of an uncompetitive round one and indicated he was injured and unable to fight. Referee David Solivan accepted Abdukakhorov’s requested retirement officially at 3:00 of round one, per California rules.
Undefeated local fan favorite Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez (17-0, 10 KOs) of Riverside, California, had little problem knocking out Owings Mill, Maryland’s Brandon “The Hitter” Chambers (12-5-1, 5 KOs) at 1:47 of the opening round. The 23-year-old featherweight prospect Gonzalez moved in quickly and landed a powerful right hand behind the ear that left Chambers on the mat for an extended period.
LA’s undefeated Sam Contreras (5-0, 2 KOs) knocked out overmatched Texan Cesar “El Matrix” Cantu (3-5-2, 1 KO) of Weslaco, Texas. Contreras wisely used his advantages in height and reach and varied his attack to the head and body. The normally durable Cantu had no answers to the educated attack. Referee David Solivan decided the determined but outgunned Cantu didn’t belong in the ring with a prospect at Contreras’ level at 1:09 of round two.
19-year-old Robert Garcia Academy bantamweight prospect Luis Coria (5-0, 5 KOs) of Moreno Valley, California, scored an impressive TKO stoppage of 41-fight veteran Lito Naruto Dante (21-16-4, 12 KOs) of Sierra Bullones, Bohol, Philippines. Normally a durable road warrior, Dante grew tired of absorbing the hammering fists of the young puncher Coria and informed his corner he had had enough at the conclusion of round two.
Super Welterweight Kevin “The Badass” Ventura (12-1, 8 KOs) of Omaha fought his way to a six-round unanimous decision over Riverside, California’s Aaron Watson (2-2-2, 1 KO). Watson started out well throwing powerful right hands, but Ventura came on with every passing round. The in-ring action was closer than the scores of 60-54 by all three judges.
To open the night’s action, former three-time national amateur champion Jocelyn Camarillo (6-0, 1 KO) of Coachella California, made quick work of Isis Sio (1-3) of North Dakota, knocking her out at 1:18 of the opening round. The 21-year-old Camarillo trapped Sio against the ropes and unloaded an extended salvo that left her light flyweight opponent Sio out cold for several tense minutes. Sio was taken from the ring on a stretcher.
**On behalf of CEO Garry Jonas and the entire ProBox family we are praying for a speedy recovery for Isis Sio.
Ms. Sio is currently in a medically induced coma.
Our thoughts are with her and her family at this very difficult time.
Please join us in wishing for a full recovery.
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