Dangerous veteran Kiko Martinez looks to reignite his career when he challenges Jordan Gill for the European featherweight title at Wembley Arena in London on Saturday.
Martinez, who is rated No. 8 by The Ring at 126-pounds, is grateful for the opportunity coming off losing his IBF title to Josh Warrington earlier this year and he knows victory is imperative.
“[Gill is] a very complete boxer, I respect him as if he was a world champion and I know he’s going to leave everything in the ring to beat me,” Martinez (43-11-2, 30 knockouts) told The Ring through Óscar Zardaín. “He had a tough time in his last fight, but at the end of the day he’s the champion and he’s not going to give me anything.
“Right now, more than ever, I only have the word victory in my head. I am very focused and, for me, there is no other possibility than victory – this is my last bullet.”
Several months removed from the Warrington fight and the Spaniard is still perplexed how the Brit was allowed to use his head excessively.
“I will never understand how such things are allowed in a professional boxing ring and in a country like the U.K., which is like my second home and the birthplace of boxing,” said Martinez, who will be fighting in Great Britain and Ireland for the 15th time.
“That night, I could have suffered a very serious accident, it was reckless on the part of the referee and the doctor. My corner asked several times for the doctor to come to see me and he didn’t want to, he said he would only go if the referee asked him to. It was a trap and I don’t think I deserved that.”
The 36-year-old decided to change things for this fight and go back to Gabriel Sarmiento, who trained him when he won his first world title in 2013.
Martinez says the move has helped him re-focus on what he hopes can be an exciting climax to an impressive career.
“I want one last chance to fight for the world championship – that’s my goal,” said the former two-weight world champion. “I think my last fight against Josh Warrington wasn’t fair, he used his head several times and he wasn’t penalised at any point. It hurt me a lot to lose like that.
“I am very fortunate because financially I can say I have my life sorted out and my family is covered, but I need to say goodbye to boxing to be at peace with myself. My goal is to beat Jordan Gill and then to fight for a world title again. After that, I can leave peacefully.”
Gill (27-1-1, 8 knockouts) turned professional in 2012. The 28-year-old Brit took the scalps of Jason Cunningham (UD 10), Ryan Doyle (TKO 7) and Emmanuel Dominguez (TKO 3) before coming unstuck against tough Mexican Mario Tinoco (RTD 8).
Since then, he’s beaten former world title challenger Cesar Juarez (UD 10). However, Gill is best known for getting off the canvas and fighting hurt before scoring a spectacular one-punch come from behind knockout over Karim Guerfi (KO 9) to claim the European title in February.
The main event of the evening, Katie Taylor vs. Karen Elizabeth Carabajal, plus full supporting undercard action will stream live on DAZN starting at 2:00 p.m. ET/ 11:00 a.m. PT.
Re: Jordan Gill vs. Kiko Martinez | DAZN - 29 October 2022
Dioufy wrote: ↑09 Sep 2022, 13:05
Kiko is eternal for sure.
How many years ago was it he chinned Bernard Dunne? Are there any boxers today still competing at this kind of level who had their debuts before him?
haha i went to that fight, great atmosphere before the fight with the fans then dunne got destroyed. least i got to meet emanuel steward after the fight in the hotel
Re: Jordan Gill vs. Kiko Martinez | DAZN - 29 October 2022
Posted: 24 Oct 2022, 14:35
by jameswilson
Kiko really must have smacked him hard, Dunne protested the first two knockdowns where he literally gets belted so hard in the face that he gets lifted off the ground.
Re: Jordan Gill vs. Kiko Martinez | DAZN - 29 October 2022
Posted: 24 Oct 2022, 14:38
by margaret thatcher
some crackin atmosphere there for an ebu fight
Re: Jordan Gill vs. Kiko Martinez | DAZN - 29 October 2022
Posted: 24 Oct 2022, 15:06
by Glass Joe
a 21 year old martinez still looks 36
I regret not going to Bernard Dunne vs Ricardo Cordoba back in the day.
Re: Jordan Gill vs. Kiko Martinez | DAZN - 29 October 2022
Posted: 24 Oct 2022, 16:20
by high tower 1
margaret thatcher wrote: ↑24 Oct 2022, 14:38
some crackin atmosphere there for an ebu fight
Irish boxing bro. You won’t get a better atmosphere anywhere
Re: Jordan Gill vs. Kiko Martinez | DAZN - 29 October 2022
Posted: 24 Oct 2022, 16:52
by Coco
For me Kiko is like The CAT, seemingly beatable and not that talented, but super hard, determined and a banger, which in the end makes him very difficult to beat.
Re: Jordan Gill vs. Kiko Martinez | DAZN - 29 October 2022