BoxRec

Sandor Martin Replaces Ill Jose Pedraza, To Fight Teofimo Lopez On December 10 At MSG

The WBC super lightweight elimination match ordered last week will happen a lot sooner than anyone anticipated.

Boxing Scene confirmed Thursday that Spain’s Sandor Martin has agreed to replace an ill Jose Pedraza as Teofimo Lopez’s opponent December 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Martin was the other opponent Lopez and his handlers at Top Rank Inc. considered before they picked Pedraza for this next bout, but Martin happily replaced Pedraza on barely three weeks’ notice.

Puerto Rico’s Pedraza contracted an illness not related to COVID-19 during training camp and was forced to withdraw from a 10-round main event ESPN will televise. Pedraza is expected to return to the ring at some point within the first few months of 2023.

ESPN.com’s Mike Coppinger first reported Thursday that Martin replaced Pedraza as Lopez’s opponent.

Las Vegas’ Lopez criticized Martin, who upset four-division champion Mikey Garcia 13 months ago, for pricing himself out of their fight during an interview with BS.com on Wednesday. Now the 140-pound contenders will get the opportunity to settle their differences in an eliminator that could advance the winner toward a shot at whoever emerges victorious when number one-ranked Jose Zepeda (35-2, 27 KOs, 2 NC) and second-rated Regis Prograis (27-1, 23 KOs) fight for the unclaimed WBC super lightweight championship November 26 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

The Lopez-Martin winner wouldn’t be obliged to fight for the WBC belt, but the elimination match the WBC ordered eight days ago at its annual convention in Acapulco, Mexico will give the fourth-ranked Lopez or the fifth-rated Martin some leverage.

Martin (40-2, 13 KOs) has boxed just once since he stunningly defeated Garcia by majority decision in their 10-rounder in October 2021 at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, California. The 29-year-old Martin beat Mexican veteran Jose Felix (39-6-1, 30 KOs) by unanimous decision in that 10-round bout, which took place April 1 in Barcelona.

Though Pedraza is a two-division champion who has fought a higher level of opposition overall than Martin, he is 0-1-1 in his last two fights. Pedraza (29-4-1, 14 KOs) settled for a 10-round split draw with fellow former lightweight champ Richard Commey (30-4-1, 27 KOs) in his most recent action, a 10-rounder August 27 at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The 25-year-old Lopez (17-1, 13 KOs), a former IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champion, knocked out Ghana’s Commey in the second round of their December 2019 bout at Madison Square Garden.

Pretty good replacement on fairly short notice.

NoScoutingReports wrote: ↑18 Nov 2022, 07:33 Pretty good replacement on fairly short notice.

he won't have had a decent training camp.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑18 Nov 2022, 11:20

NoScoutingReports wrote: ↑18 Nov 2022, 07:33 Pretty good replacement on fairly short notice.

he won't have had a decent training camp.

Not as long as he'd have liked, no, but he seems a pretty disciplined fighter to me and looks to have a decent engine, his style can be awkward. As I said, considering the timescale it's not a bad replacement.

NoScoutingReports wrote: ↑18 Nov 2022, 16:10

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑18 Nov 2022, 11:20

NoScoutingReports wrote: ↑18 Nov 2022, 07:33 Pretty good replacement on fairly short notice.

he won't have had a decent training camp.

Not as long as he'd have liked, no, but he seems a pretty disciplined fighter to me and looks to have a decent engine, his style can be awkward. As I said, considering the timescale it's not a bad replacement.

Yeh I agree

Teofimo Lopez: “We wish Jose Pedraza a speedy recovery, but we look forward to facing Sandor Martin. He was the opponent we originally wanted for Heisman Night at Madison Square Garden. I will continue to silence the doubters as I take over the 140-pound division. I look forward to giving my hometown fans a special night of boxing.”

Sandor Martin: “I’ve dreamed of fighting in a main event at Madison Square Garden. This is my time. I’ve taken the risk, and I will take control against Teofimo Lopez on December 10th. I will give the fans what they want to see.”

I don't think Martin will win but he's capable of being extremely negative. Interesting to see how Teo deals with it. He struggled on the front food vs Kambosos of all people.

Fight Week!!

Teofimo-Martin Undercard

Jared Anderson vs. Jerry Forrest
Xander Zayas vs. Alexis Salazar
Keyshawn Davis vs. Juan Carlos Burgos
Jahi Tucker vs. Ivan Pandzic
Bruce Carrington vs. Juan Tapia
Mike O’Han Jr. vs. Delante Johnson
Frederic Julan vs. Joe Ward
Damian Knyba vs. Emilio Salas

Carrington is the goods guy's..remember the name !

TheLeprechaun wrote: ↑21 Nov 2022, 13:01 I don't think Martin will win but he's capable of being extremely negative. Interesting to see how Teo deals with it. He struggled on the front food vs Kambosos of all people.

I've rewatched a good bit of both guys and I'm feeling Martin here bigtime. Yes Teo will probably get it on the cards but this Martin guy is the most negative boxer I've seen. He's also pretty slick and hard to beat. Impossible to look good against. It looks like Teo is a lot more mature and reserved in the build up. Kambosos got in his head but he is looking more in control this time. He will need that kind of mindset because Martin is a frustrating guy to fight. Frustrating to watch too. I just think Martin is going to be winning this fight off the backfoot.

Fight Day!!

Date: Saturday December 10, 2022
Location: Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
TV/Stream: ESPN | ESPN+

Start Times
ESPN+: 6 pm ET | 3 pm PT | 11 pm GMT (Preliminary Card)
ESPN: 9 pm ET | 6 pm PT | 2 am GMT (Main Card)

Promoted by: Top Rank Inc.

Main card

10 Round WBC Super Lightweight Title Eliminator
Teofimo Lopez vs. Sandor Martin

10 Round Heavyweight Bout
Jared Anderson vs. Jerry Forrest

8 Round Super Welterweight Bout
Xander Zayas vs. Alexis Salazar

8 Round Lightweight Bout
Keyshawn Davis vs. Juan Carlos Burgos

Undercard

8 Round Super Lightweight Bout
Tiger Johnson vs. Mike O’Han Jr.

6 Round Light heavyweight Bout
Joe Ward vs. Frederic Julan

6 Round Heavyweight Bout
Damian Knyba vs. Emilio Salas

8 Round Featherweight Bout
Bruce Carrington vs. Juan Tapia

8 Round Welterweight Bout
Jahi Tucker vs. Ivan Pandzic

Nice of the ref to honor Mills Lane then

I had Lopez winning 95-94, close fight, tough to score without much quality, with a bit more belief in his offense Martin could've won that, defensively he was very good, great footwork and defensive skills to avoid a lot of Lopez lunging work, made the right hook check counter work well at times, had Lopez down in the 2nd from it, too often though Martin not busy enough and concentrating too much on making Lopez miss as opposed to hitting him


Lopez looked flat and predictable just lunged in with the right hand and just about made it work, he did struggle to pin down the slippery southpaw Martin and had to settle for an ugly hard fought win

I had Lopez 97-93… Martin boxed well but was very negative at times. Did score 2 legitimate knockdowns, mind.
At at very push I can see a draw… with 96-94 very fair.
I scored the 2nd 10-9 to Martin as even though it was a correctly ruled KD it was a flash put down and Lopez won the round handily around it.

I scored the 2nd 10-8 for Martin but 10-9 probably the right call, clear Lopez round apart from the flash KD

TheGman wrote: ↑11 Dec 2022, 00:36 Nice of the ref to honor Mills Lane then

What did he do?

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑11 Dec 2022, 07:09

TheGman wrote: ↑11 Dec 2022, 00:36 Nice of the ref to honor Mills Lane then

What did he do?

Did his catchphrase after his issued his instructions.

Dioufy wrote: ↑11 Dec 2022, 07:14

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑11 Dec 2022, 07:09

TheGman wrote: ↑11 Dec 2022, 00:36 Nice of the ref to honor Mills Lane then

What did he do?

Did his catchphrase after his issued his instructions.

Nice

CompuBox Stats

I don’t get the clamour for a Martin win to be honest. Punch stats back that up with only one fighter really trying to fight.

One thing for sure… Teo needs a new trainer. He’s like 26 and asking whether “he’s still got it”.

Would do well getting himself a Sugar Hill or Robert Garcia.

I had it for Martin but I have to say I'm always delighted to see extremely negative fighters like him lose.