By Jim Maltzman: WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez (15-1, 12 KOs) is in a position where he could take the spotlight away from the headliner fight between Mikey Garcia and Jessie Vargas this month on February 29.
Garcia-Vargas is a decent fight, but neither of those two have a fighting style that is anywhere close to being as exciting as Martinez. This guy is something special, and he’s got the potential to be a big star if he can handle the top fighters in the division.
Martinez vs. Harris not co-feature
Although the 25-year-old Martinez’s fight against Jay Harris (17-0, 9 KOs) isn’t in the co-feature spot, it could attract the majority of the attention with another impressive performance from the Mexican talent. Harris is going to have his hands full trying to slow Martinez down. It’s likely that Harris will be on the move for as long as it lasts.
Harris is a good test for Martinez. He’s arguably a step up from the guys that he’s been fighting. It’s going to be a big ask for Harris to be able to handle Martinez’s power and his furious attacking style of fighting.
Martinez’s fight against #7 WBC Harris is the third from the top on the Garcia-Vargas card on February 9 at The Ford Center at The Star, in Frisco, Texas, USA. The fight card will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the U.S.
Martinez is an incredible puncher with an exciting attacking style of fighting. He’s trained by Eddy Reynoso, who trains Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia. Neither of those fighters are anything like Martinez in terms of fighting style. Martinez is more of an old school fighter with the way he throws triple hooks, and attacks in waves.
Martinez coming off win over Christofer Rosales
In Martinez’s last fight, he stopped former WBC flyweight champion Christofer Rosales (29-5, 20 KOs) in the 9th round on December 20. That was an exciting fight in which both guys got hurt. Martinez was only briefly stunned at one point in the fight, but he came back strong to wear Rosales down and stop him.
Martinez defeated Charlie Edwards by a 3rd round knockout last August, but the knockout was overturned due to Martinez hitting him while he was down. Edwards was too hurt to continue fighting.
- Khalid Yafai vs. Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez
- Mikey Garcia vs Jessie Vargas
- Joseph Parker vs. Shawndell Terell Winters
- Murat Gassiev vs. Jerry Forrest
- Israil Madrimov vs. Charlie Navarro
Yafai (26-0, 15 KOs) and Chocolatito (48-2, 40 KOs) is an excellent fight on paper, but we’ll have to see if it lives up to expectations. Chocolatito hasn’t looked like the same fighter he once was since 2015. He moved up to 115 several years ago, and he’s just not big enough to be the same dominating force that he once was.