By Jim Dower: Welterweight Josesito Lopez (32-6, 19 KO’s) halted Aaron Martinez (19-3-1, 4 KO’s) in the 5th round on Thursday night after Martinez turned his back on Lopez after getting hurt at the Agua Caliente Casino, in Rancho Mirage, California, USA. Lopez, 29, trapped the light hitting Martinez in the corner in the 5th round, and hurt him with a left to the body followed by a left hook to the head.
After getting hit with the left to the head, Martinez turned his back to Lopez and put his hands up behind his head to protect himself. At that point referee Jack Reiss rushed in and halted the fight at 1:19 of the round. Martinez tried to protest the stoppage, but Reiss wasn’t having any of it, saying “You abandoned the fight. You turned your back on your opponent.” Martinez kept saying “No.”
Martinez put the referee in the position where he had to stop the fight due to him failing to take a knee or grab Lopez in a clinch to keep him from throwing any additional shots. Martinez didn’t do any of those things. Instead he seemed to lose his head and pull an amateurish move in turning his back. The left to the body and the left to the head from Lopez clearly hurt Martinez enough for him to turn his back.
Lopez said after the fight “I’m going for a world title and I’m following in the footsteps. I’m training like a world champion.”
Martinez said “He never hurt me in the fight. I wasn’t hurt at all. I could understand if I was getting hurt then stop the fight, but I wasn’t getting hurt.”
Martinez didn’t make any sense with his explanation, because he failed to explain why he turned his back on Lopez. He said he wasn’t hurt, yet he had no explanation whatsoever to say why he turned his back to Lopez.
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