By Barry Holbrook: Eddie Hearn says he plans on setting up a unification fight between WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez and IBF champion Sunny Edwards for the summer, provided the two champions win their next fights.
Edwards (17-0, 4 KOs) will be defending his IBF 112-lb title against #4 ranked contender Muhammad Waseem (12-0, 8 KOs) this Saturday, March 19th in their headliner at the Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Dubai.
Hearn says the recently beaten WBC 112-lb champion Julio Cesar Martinez (18-2, 14 KOs) will be defending against his mandatory McWilliams Arroyo (21-4, 16 KOs) on May 7th on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Sunny Edwards, 26, believes he’ll school Rey Martinez with skills, frustrate him and score a knockout by the sixth.
A little over a week ago, Rey Martinez, 27, was soundly beaten by superstar Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision on March 5th on DAZN at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
Martinez volunteered to take the fight with the former four division world champion Chocolatito (51-3, 41 KOs), and he didn’t have anywhere near the skills needed to defeat the talented Nicaraguan.
The difference in technical ability and overall talent between Chocolatirto and Rey Martinez was tremendous. Additionally, Chocolatito had the size advantage over Martinez, which sealed his fate.
Before facing Sunny Edwards in the summer, Martinez will first need to beat WBC mandatory Arroyo in their rematch. Martinez and Arroyo fought last November in a contest that ended in a three round no-contest.
Arroyo couldn’t continue after being injured from a head-butt in the third. At the time of the stoppage, Martinez seemed to be in control of the fight due to his punching power and pressure.
“Of course, one of the conditions of taking that fight was that he has to fight his mandatory [McWilliams Arroyo] because of the tactical draw, but we’re going to do that real quick. It might even be on the Canelo card,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV when asked if he can make the unification fight between IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards and WBC champion Julio Cesar Martinez.
“He’ll [Rey Martinez] be back out in May and then we’ll do the fight in the summer,” Hearn continued about his plans to have Martinez and Sunny Edwards meet in a unification fight in the summer.
It’s a risky fight for Edwards to fight the big puncher Rey Martinez because he doesn’t have the power or the combination punching style that could trouble the WBC 112-lb champion.
Chocolatito shut Martinez down by using his tight guard to block his winging power shots. The high volume punch attack from Chocolatito had Martinez totally outgunned, and hurt in the championship rounds.
“Martinez has to unify otherwise it becomes boring. If he’s nice, we’ll give him a fight,” Hearn said about Sunny Edwards.
“It’s an intriguing match-up and a high-profile fight,” said Sunny Edwards on a fight between him and Rey Martinez. “Everyone is talking about me in every conversation and in every interview. My name is mentioned.
“My intentions are to let Eddie know, to let Martinez know, to let Eddy Reynoso know and everyone involved with Martinez, I’ll fight him anywhere in the world. I do not care.
“I got a chance to achieve what so view actually get to do. The moment the phone rings, that fight is getting made. That’s an easy fight.
If Martinez’s power can blow you out of the water, there’s so much room to score to make him miss, and so much room to make him frustrated.
“By the sixth round against me, he’ll be looking to quit. It’s not because I hit so hard. It’s because he’ll be so frustrated that he can’t hit me. It’s the biggest fight for the platform.
“It’s a brilliant backstory because of my brother,” said Sunny.
