By Max Schramm: Still bitter about his humiliating knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in 2016, Charles Martin wants revenge against the big Brit, and he needs to defeat Luis ‘King King’ Ortiz tonight to keep his goal alive to battle AJ again.
Ortiz-Martin is an important match for both fighters, considering it’s an IBF heavyweight title eliminator with the winner to be mandatory for IBF/WBA/WBA champion Oleksandr Usyk. There are future millions at stake for tonight’s Ortiz vs. Martin fight.
Martin’s manager Mike Borao insists that he’s not overlooking ‘King Kong’ Ortiz, but it’s hard to believe that given all the talk he’s done this week about wanting to avenge his loss to Anthony Joshua.
It seems like Martin has been torturing himself with his useless reverie about him avenging his loss to Joshua six years ago.
Charles Martin lacks ENERGY
The 35-year-old Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) fights 42-year-old ‘King Kong’ Ortiz (32-2, 26 KO) tonight in the main event on FOX PPV at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida.
In the last six years, the 6’5″ southpaw Martin has had some lackluster performances, looking disengaged and unmotivated, perhaps due to the middle-of-the-road opposition his management has been routinely matching him against.
Martin always looked tired in his fights, even from the first round, making you wonder if he’s ignoring his cardio.
Tonight, “Prince’ Charles Martin cannot afford to do fight lazily and do the very minimum required to try and win rounds against Luis Ortiz.
Martin fights like he’s being held down forcefully by Earth’s gravity, making it difficult for him to move due to the gravitational pull being exerted on him.
The talented Cuban is anything but lazy, and if Martin labors at the beginning of the fight, as we’ve been seeing from him for the last six years, Ortiz will quickly knock him out.
Martin will need to show some energy and start fast in this fight if he doesn’t want Ortiz to jump on him right away as he did in his last contest against Alexander Flores.
Martin insists he’ll get REVENGE
“It will happen,” Charles Martin said to Sky Sports on getting revenge against Anthony Joshua. “He’s also got two Ls now. It ain’t for nothin’. It ain’t for the money.
“You get one up on me? I’ll see you later. If you get one up on me, I’ll come back around the block and get one up on you,” said Martin in making it evident that he’s still holding onto the hurt that he experienced six years ago in his second round knockout loss to Joshua.
Assuming Martin loses tonight against Ortiz and Joshua gets beaten by IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch in April, maybe there’s a chance that we could see Joshua-Martin in a loser’s bracket type of fight? I doubt it, though.
Martin should rest his mind and put the thoughts of a rematch against Joshua out of his head once and for all. I mean, there’s no sense in Charles torturing himself with his unrealizable dreams.
“I just want a fair shake. Some fighters become disciplined too late, but the window hasn’t closed on me yet. I’m getting older,” said Martin in continuing to bang on about him needing a second fight with Joshua.
Like an older person that can’t let go of a past failure, Martin keeps replaying the image in his head of what happened to him in his loss to Joshua.
Charles replaying old memories
“I’ll never know, and the world will never know, what would have happened against Joshua if I wasn’t badly hurt ten days before our fight,” said Martin in coming across like he’s making excuses.
All we know is Martin was knocked out almost immediately by Joshua six years ago, and boxing fans aren’t going to buy the excuses Charles is coming up with now.
The sad fact is, Martin isn’t viewed as a relevant fighter in the eyes of a lot of people.
Martin’s humdrum match-making done for him since his loss to Joshua has kept him from staying in the public’s eye.
He should have been fighting MUCH better opposition than the cannon fodder his promoters have been steadily pitting him against since his loss to AJ in 2016.
Martin’s fights since his loss to Joshua:
- Byon Polley
- Michael Marrone
- Adam Kownacki – loss
- Gregory Corbin
- Gerald Washington
- Daniel Martz
Deontay Wilder wishing Luis Ortiz “good luck”
“If you like heavyweight fights, it doesn’t get better than this. 5 heavyweight fights on one card. Good luck to my brother and former opponent, Luis Ortiz. ✊🏿 #OrtizMartin #HappyNewYear,” said Deontay Wilder on Twitter in encouraging fans to watch the fight tonight on FOX PPV.