Iron sharpens iron, even against the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Unbeaten super middleweight Lester Martinez had wanted to spar Terence Crawford and finally received the opportunity to do so recently in preparation for his next fight.

Martinez will square off against Ruben Angulo in a stay-busy fight Friday at the Parque de la Industria in his hometown of Guatemala City, Guatemala. The 10-round bout will headline a card that will stream live on ESPN Knockout (9 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. local time) throughout Latin America.

About two weeks ago, a photo of Ring welterweight champion Crawford and Martinez circulated on social media. Both were in the ring sparring at the Top Rank Gym in Las Vegas.

Esau Dieguez, who co-trains both fighters, provided more clarity regarding the photo.

“Lester had always wanted to spar Terence, but the opportunity never presented itself over the last year and a half,” Dieguez told RingTV on Monday. “Terence wanted to spar Lester recently. They went at it and didn’t hold back.

“This isn’t the first time Terence has sparred against a bigger fighter. He sparred against (unbeaten super middleweight) Steven Nelson. He weighed in at 175 pounds when he was an amateur (prior to turning pro in March 2016).”

The 28-year-old Martinez (16-0, 14 knockouts) has not fought since July 12, knocking out Lucas de Abreu in the fourth round. In his previous fight on April 10, Martinez stopped Isaiah Steen in the eighth round.

Besides Crawford, Martinez has gotten solid sparring in recent weeks against unbeaten middleweight prospect Troy Isley and cruiserweight Tristan Kalkreuth. Dieguez, along with co-trainer Brian ‘Bomac’ McIntyre, believe Martinez has improved his skill-set and is on his way to becoming a legit contender at 168 pounds.

“Lester is a good fighter,” said Dieguez. “He has that Mexican style and he hits hard. We’ve gotten him to box more and to use more movement. He’s combined more and it’s great to see his improvement. We hope he makes a statement and wins by knockout on Friday.”

There is a possibility that Martinez could return to the ring in April. The plan, according to Dieguez, is for Martinez to fight four times in 2024.

Angulo (11-8-2, 5 KOs), who resides in Buenaventura, Colombia, stopped journeyman Cristian Escobar in his last bout on November 12. The 25-year-old has won his last three fights after going winless in his previous eight, including a knockout loss to unbeaten Hassan Azim on June 16.

In the co-feature, flyweight contender David Jimenez of Costa Rica will face Pablo Macario in a 10-round bout.

Jimenez (14-1, 11 KOs), who is rated at No. 7 by The Ring at 112 pounds, has won his last two bouts since losing by close decision to then-WBA flyweight titleholder Artem Dalakian on January 28 of last year. The 31-year-old knocked out former world titleholder Ganigan Lopez in his last bout five weeks ago on January 19.

Macario (8-5, 4 KOs), who resides in Guatemala City, has lost four of his last six bouts.

Hard-hitting junior middleweight Eduardo Cordovez (16-4-1, 14 KOs) of Los Teques, Venezuela will clash against Costa Rica’s Eduardo Sanchez Ramirez (9-1-2, 5 KOs) in an eight-round bout.

The card is co-promoted by Apex Boxing, Ernesto Sandoval and G & V Entertainment.

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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