By Matt Lieberman: Eddie Hearn can’t wait to see Julio Cesar Martinez defend his WBC flyweight title against #1 challenger McWilliams Arroyo next month on August 15 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The fight card will be streamed on DAZN.

Hearn offered Martinez (16-1, 12 KOs) unification fights against 112-lb champions Artem Dalakian and Moruti Mthalane, and he agreed to both contests. However, neither of the two champions was available to fight by August 15.

Eddie then offered the 25-year-old Martinez a fight against his mandatory challenger Arroyo (20-4, 15 KOs), and he readily agreed. Arroyo is an excellent match-up for the young Martinez, who quickly a fan base in the U.S and the UK since his three-round demolition job against former WBC flyweight champion Charlie Edwards last August in London, England.

The fight was ruled a no-contest due to Julio Cesar Martinez hitting Edwards with a body shot after knocking him down in round three. Edwards chose to stay down on the canvas rather than getting back up to resume the fight.

Had he gotten back up, the fight wouldn’t have been stopped. Some boxing fans believe Edwards intentionally stayed down to win by disqualification. With the referee ruling it a no-contest, Edwards was able to retain his WBC 112lb title. Edwards later wisely vacated his WBC title rather than face Martinez again. He didn’t like his chances against the talented Mexican fighter.

Hearn says Martinez is his favorite fighter

“For me, he’s probably my favorite fighter at the moment,” said Hearn to Matchroom Boxing about Julio Cesar Martinez. “He came over and gave the fright of our lives against Charles Edwards at the O2.

“We know that he knocked out Andrew Selby in Mexico, and he came to the O2. What we saw it was frightening. He wasn’t unlucky. It was justified. He got disqualified. Sorry, no contest for that fight. It should have been disqualified, really.

“He had Charlie Edwards all over the place but did hit him on the floor,” Hearn said of Martinez. “He came back. Charlie vacated the [WBC 112-pound] title instead of rematching him.

“All of a sudden, Cristofer Rosales came in, and they fought for the vacant world title. Martinez was incredible that night, incredible, and that was on the Danny Jacobs card in Arizona.

“I’m starting to see the fan base start to grow [for Julio Cesar Martinez]. We know that Mexican fight fans love a warrior. They love someone that stands toe-to-toe, and Julio Cesar Martinez is one of the most exciting, entertaining young fighters in the world,” Hearn continued.

Arroyo is a talented fighter with wins over Luis Maldonado, Carlos Cuadras, and Carlos Maldonado. He surprised a lot of people by beating former super flyweight champion Cuadras by a 10 round majority decision in February 2018. Arroyo’s defeats have come against these excellent fighters:

Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez
Kazuto Ioka
Amnat Ruenroeng
Takashi Okada

Julio Cesar Martinez = throwback fighter

“He’s a complete throwback,” said Eddie about Julio Cesar Martinez. “We swapped messages on Instagram. He doesn’t speak English, and my Spanish is not good. I Google translated, and I sent it over to him.

“When I talk about throwback fighters, for this fight, I offered him [Moruti] Mthalane, the IBF world champion. ‘Yes.’ It wasn’t even, ‘Ah.’ It was ‘Yes.’ So I went on to Mthalane, and he’s not going to be ready, he says. Ok. We went to [Artem] Dalakian, the WBA champion. I thought, ‘that’s a tough fight.’

“I went to Julio Cesar Matinez and Eddy Reynoso, ‘How about Dalakian?’ ‘Yes!’ Dalakian, ‘I’m not quite ready for this one.’ It seems to be a continuing trend. We looked at the rankings, and we know that the only plan for Julio Cesar Martinez is for him to become the undisputed world champion.

“So we want the qualifications as soon as possible. We know we’re also going to have our mandatories coming up. So we looked at the rankings, #1 McWilliams Arroyo. He’s a great fighter.

“Of course, you’ve got the Mexico-Puerto Rico there as well. We’ve written to Mauricio Sulaiman and said, ‘We’d like to take care of our mandatory challenger now in the #1.’ Again, ‘Yes.’ I don’t even know this kid [Martinez] watches these guys, by the way. They’re just so confident that they have the ability and the strength and power to walk through everyone,” Hearn said of Martinez.

Julio Cesar Martinez is a different type of fighter, one that comes forward looking to slug with body hands. He’s just as comfortable fighting out of southpaw stance as he is from his natural orthodox position, and he’s frequently changing positions during his attacks.

Martinez learned from the Jay Harris fight

“You saw a great performance from Jay Harris last time out,” Hearn continued about Martinez. “I also think Martinez learned from that fight. You just can’t walk through everybody, and he might not be able to walk through McWilliams Arroyo.

“He’s a very skillful fighter, well-schooled. This is a really tough fight but a great battle, and that’s what we want. When we come back, you’ve got the WBC world champion against the #1 challenger.

“This is how you bring boxing back with competitive fights, and Julio Cesar Martinez is the guy that took the challenge. He’s the guy that was offered, and he accepted. He’s on it.

“It doesn’t have to be complicated in boxing, and Julio Cesar Martinez is a good example of that. He’s going to be an absolute superstar. It’s going to be a tough fight on August 15,” said Hearn.

A lot of boxing fans would love to see a rematch with Martinez and Harris down the road.

Martinez only has one style, and that’s to go on the attack. If he tries to change that, he’s not going to be as successful. Against Jay Harris, Martinez dealt with a guy with a massive amount of boxing skills, size, and good power.

If Martinez had attempted to box Harris all night, he would have lost because he’s not as skilled as the British fighter. Harris looked like a small version of Josh Taylor. He could do it all; fight on the inside, outside, move and throw with power. Harris is a hidden gem in Hearn’s Matchroom stable.

Unfortunately for him, he ran into a human buzzsaw in Martinez, and he couldn’t deal with the constant pressure. The was highly competitive throughout, but Martinez pulled away in the championship rounds. In the tenth round, Martinez knocked Harris down with a perfectly placed body shot. The knockdown sealed the victory for Martinez.

Hearn hoping for a spectacular night on August 15

“We’ll be moving toward the end of September, and then we’re moving to October,” said Hearn. “Devin Haney looks like he’s the next man out. There are lots to do, and they’re not going to be without their problems.

“You’ve seen Top Rank deal with problem after problem coming back as early as they did. Hats off to them. There’s going to be ups and downs, but we’ve got to get through this period. We’ve got to bring boxing back in the right way.

“You know you’re going to be impressed with the setup of this show. It’s going to look different. It’s going to look excited, and when fans turn on their TVs, they’re going to wonder where on earth this is.

“They’re going to see a spectacular night on August 15,” said Hearn of the Martinez vs. Arroyo card.

Hearn is still working on the Martinez-Arroyo card for August 15 in Tulsa, but these are the fights he has thus far:

Shakhram Giyasov vs. Francisco Hernandez Rojo
Cecilia Braekhus vs. Jessica McCaskill
Raymond Ford vs. TBA
Nikita Ababiy vs. TBA
Marc Castro vs. TBA

The two fights that Hearn has completed for the undercard are superb, and he’s added some talented prospects as well. Castro and Ford are both destined to become future world champions in time.