Europe proved to be a fertile battleground for the 5’10” brawler as he began facing better opponents and had bigger matches. During his five years in Spain, Martinez won several belts and earned a return to the U.S. where he won a match against Mexican Saul Roman. Signing with a new promoter in 2007, Martinez left Spain and obscurity for bigger fights and notoriety amongst American boxing fans. The last five years he has faced world champions including Kermit Cintron, Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams in matches that were all considered “fights of the year.”
With a 49-2-2 pro record (28 of those wins by way of knockout) Martinez is facing the biggest fight of his life against Julio César Chávez Jr. on Saturday September 15th in Las Vegas, Nevada. This fight represents more than a big payday, prestige or even a title. It has been Martinez’s goal since the first time he got into a ring. “Everything I did was to get to now,” Martinez recently said in a Los Angeles Times article. “I don’t look at it as hard. Boxing is not hard to me. Life is hard.”
Well, if Martinez emerges with a victory over Chávez Jr. something tells us life is about to get a lot easier.
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