Michael McKinson To Now Face Alex Martin On DAZN; Jesus A. Perez (Weight) Falls Through
Michael McKinson is now on his third opponent for his first career fight in the U.S.
Boxing Scene has learned that Alex Martin is now poised to face England’s McKinson, the switch coming shortly after previously approved Jesus Antonio Perez Campos (24-3, 18KOs) was too far beyond the welterweight limit to safely make weight on Friday. The bout is dependent on Chicago’s Martin (17-3, 6KOs) being able to make the contracted limit on short notice for this Saturday’s DAZN show from USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles.
Tijuana’s Perez was cleared by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) on Wednesday and accepted by McKinson (21-0, 2KOs) and his team before learning of the weight disparity.
“My opponent turned up from Mexico 2 stone [roughly 28 pounds] overweight,” McKinson revealed to his social media followers late Thursday evening. “Opponent change AGAIN!”
Perez (24-3, 18KOs) had not fought in more than two years and was not scheduled to fight at the time he received the call to face McKinson on just three days’ notice. The 27-year-old Tijuana native agreed to replace rising welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr. (18-0, 18KOs), who was pulled from the show after being hospitalized and treated for rhabdomyolysis earlier this week.
It appears that more work needs to be done, though it remains unclear why Perez would agree to terms while knowing he was close to 30 pounds above the welterweight limit.
Representatives from Golden Boy Promotions did not return a message from BS.com seeking comment as this goes to publish. A representative from McKinson’s team confirmed the fallout but declined further comment as the situation is understandably fluid.
Martin called for the fight earlier this week, going as far to suggest that he was being ducked by McKinson and his team after they settled on the orthodox-stanced Perez. The Chicagoland southpaw gets his wish as his number was called to help salvage a show with several moving parts.
The 32-year-old Martin is riding a four-fight win streak, all coming at junior welterweight. In his most recent start, Martin scored a ten-round shutout win over Josec Ruiz last August 14 in Frisco, Texas. Each of Martin’s two wins in 2021 came on the undercard of Dallas area shows headlined by Ortiz.
Martin’s last defeat came in December 2017, suffering a third straight points loss on the year and all at welterweight. Martin dropped an eight-round decision to Bryant Perrella, coming on the heels of back-to-back defeats to then-unbeaten Miguel Cruz earlier in the year.
McKinson previously hinted that he could potentially face “a [G]olden Boy fighter who’s a southpaw,” though the evening’s makeshift main event participants were ruled out.
Alexis Rocha (18-1, 12KOs) and Blair Cobbs (15-0-1, 10KOs)—both of whom are southpaws—are still due to face each other in Saturday’s DAZN headliner from USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles. The fight was advanced from co-feature on Wednesday, once Vergil Ortiz Jr. (18-0, 18KOs) was pulled from his scheduled 12-round main event with McKinson after being hospitalized for rhabdomyolysis.
Cobbs allegedly offered his services at the time and his team also insisted that he was rejected by McKinson’s side. McKinson and representatives from his management company MTK Global all refuted such claims and vowed a willingness to face any name offered for the sake of fighting this weekend and not allowing a training camp to go to waste. The 27-year-old British southpaw from Portsmouth stayed true to his word in accepting Martin on short notice.
“Such an up and down week but we have [come] to fight, whoever, regardless,” noted McKinson. “Time to adapt to the situations and overcome.”
