By: Sean Crose
WBC featherweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez said: “We weren’t expecting this fight, but we were prepared for any type of fighter, technical boxer, offensive boxer. “Now that we have a former Olympic athlete, we are prepared and as always, we are ready to give everything in the ring.” Martinez will have his fifth title defense on Saturday when he faces Samuel Carmona in a scheduled 12th round match in Glendale, Arizona. The match will be broadcast live by DAZN as part of the Juan Miguel Estrada-Chocolatito Gonzalez card.
Martinez 18-2 was supposed to rematch McWilliams Arroyo on Saturday, but Arroyo’s injury has resulted in Martinez facing Carmona. “I haven’t seen him much,” Martinez said, referring to Carmona 8-0, a former Olympic athlete from Spain, “but he played against Joel Cordova like I did, and I found that he could take pictures and also walk forward. Sometimes he really likes to trade but it’s going to be a good game and let’s see what he brings and how he holds up against the punches.” It might actually be the unknown aspect of Carmona that adds to the level of penetration into the match.
“I never underestimate my opponent,” says Martinez, “because we know it’s all about desire and desire and everyone wins, nobody loses. We know that everyone comes to win and as always, I will leave everything in the ring and we will never discredit any of our opponents.” Honestly, it’s a smart strategy, one that can help prevent instability from happening.
And Martinez certainly won’t be upset against Carmona this weekend. The man, after all, has a plan. “As I always say, I will fight anyone anywhere,” Martinez said. “We are ready for anything and if he likes we can fight whenever Arroyo wants. We are ready to win. But what interests me most is unifying the titles and pursuing other belts.” Indeed, the man seemed to be inspired by a certain star in Mexico.
“Like my colleague Canelo, I will win all the belts,” said Marticnez, “(I) want to be a unified champion and more than anything, leave a legacy…
I worked with Eddy Reynoso for four months on this camp. He’s my coach now and we’re putting a lot of effort and dedication into the camp so everything goes well and we can chase all those belts.
