Another fight, another knockout win for Lester Martinez.

The unbeaten super middleweight KO’d Ruben Angulo in the second round Friday night at the Parque de la Industria in Martinez’s hometown of Guatemala City.

Martinez improved to 17-0 (15 knockouts) and won a WBC regional title belt.

The 28-year-old Martinez was the significant favorite going into the fight, but Angulo hung in there with him, choosing to stay in the pocket and trade, finding some success on the inside.

Towards the end of round two, a three-punch combination, culminating with a left hook to the head, dropped Angulo to the canvas. Angulo remained down as referee Hector Afu counted him out at 2:52.

“Beforehand, I felt very happy to fight here in Guatemala,” said Martinez to reporter Omar Solis after the fight. “Seeing so many people (in attendance). I got tears in my eyes when I heard the national anthem before the fight. 

“We trained very hard for this fight to prepare for a war in each round, but we did think this fight was going to [be won] early. I’ll rest for a week or two, and then my team will talk about when the next fight will take place.”

Martinez made headlines a few weeks ago as he sparred undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford at the Top Rank Gym in Las Vegas. A photo of the two went viral, as Crawford has been mentioned as a possible opponent for undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.

Crawford and Martinez are both co-trained by Brian “BoMac” McIntyre and Esau Dieguez. 

Breaking 🚨

Terence Crawford spars 16-0 super middleweight Lester Martinez in preparation for Canelo Alvarez & or David Benavidez..Wow‼️#Boxing pic.twitter.com/toKAunN1P0

— AccordingToBoxing (@AccordToBoxing) February 10, 2024

In his previous fight on July 12, Martinez knocked out Brazil’s Lucas de Abreu in the fourth round. 

Angulo, who resides in Buenaventura, Colombia, falls to 11-9-2 (5 KOs). The 25-year-old entered the Martinez fight having won three fights in a row after going winless in his previous eight.

In the co-feature, flyweight contender David Jimenez of Costa Rica defeated Guatemala City’s Pablo Macario (8-6, 4 KOs) by unanimous decision. Scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 for Jimenez.

Jimenez is rated No. 7 at 112 pounds by The Ring. The 31-year-old has won his last three fights since losing to then-WBA world flyweight titleholder Artem Dalakian on January 28 of last year.

Friday’s card was co-promoted by Carlos Rivera, Ernesto Sandoval and Diego Victoria. 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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