Lester Martinez-Joeshon James lands another new date: March 22 on ProBox TV
After two postponements, perhaps the third time will be a charm for a super middleweight fight between Lester Martinez and Joeshon James.
Martinez-James is scheduled for the main event of a March 22 show at the National Orange Show Event Center in San Bernardino, California. The card will stream on ProBox TV. (Note: BS.com is owned by ProBox.)
Martinez and James were first scheduled to fight on September 11. Martinez successfully weighed in but soon pulled out with an illness. Their bout was rescheduled for Saturday, February 8. Once again, Martinez withdrew due to an illness, though this time that news came five days ahead of the bout.
Martinez is 18-0 (15 KOs). Last June, he dominated Carlos Gongora en route to a unanimous decision.
James is 9-0-2 (5 KOs). He hasn’t fought since February 2024, when he took a unanimous decision over Vaughn Alexander. James has fought mostly at or around middleweight, so while he will be the taller man in the ring, he may be undersized against Martinez.
The undercard will include Vladimir Hernandez vs. Isaias Lucero at junior middleweight, plus Jasmine Artiga facing Regina Chavez for a junior bantamweight world title.
Hernandez is 16-6 (7 KOs), but he has scored several upsets, including a unanimous decision over Alfredo Angulo in 2020, a split decision over Julian Williams in 2021, a majority decision over the 13-0 Lorenzo Simpson in 2023, a sixth-round knockout of the 16-2-2 Guido Schramm last June and a unanimous decision over the 13-1-1 Raul Garcia in September.
Some of Hernandez’s defeats have come against familiar names: Israil Madrimov (TKO6 in 2018), Souleymane Cissokho (UD8 in 2019), Jesus Ramos Jnr (TKO6 in 2022) and Troy Isley (UD8 in 2023).
Lucero, 19-2 (13 KOs), suffered both his defeats in 2023, dropping a split decision to the 10-3 Chester Parada Torales and then losing unanimously to Cissokho. Lucero has won three in a row, all by TKO against unheralded opposition.
The WBA’s vacant belt at 115lbs will be on the line for Artiga vs. Chavez.
Artiga, 12-0-1 (6 KOs), is ranked No. 7 by the sanctioning body. Chavez, 8-4-3 (1 KO), is ranked first. She lost a unanimous decision to the previous titleholder, Clara Lescurat, in February 2024.
