Wales’ Andrew Selby was the favored man going on the road last night to face Julio Cesar “Rey” Martinez in Mexico for a WBC flyweight eliminator, but it’s Martinez who has come away with the future title shot, knocking out Selby in the fifth round on a body shot.
Martinez (14-1, 11 KO) lost his pro debut back in 2015, but made it 14 straight wins in a big step-up fight for him, going from facing mediocrity to a pretty highly-regarded contender in Selby (11-1, 6 KO).
Selby is a former amateur standout who had beaten Cristofer Rosales in the pros before Rosales would upset Daigo Higa to win the WBC belt, which preceded Charlie Edwards knocking off Rosado in December of last year to claim the title.
Edwards (15-1, 6 KO) defended his title for the first time on Saturday in London, beating Spain’s Angel Moreno by shutout scores over 12 rounds. In his post-fight interview, Edwards was asked about future opponents, and he and promoter Eddie Hearn talked about title unification, about moving up to 115 to fight Kal Yafai for a belt, and about Selby. Martinez wasn’t in anyone’s plans, but now he is.
The end came at 57 seconds of the fifth round, when Selby threw a right hand, Martinez countered back with a couple of shots, landing a left hook to the body that crumpled Selby to the canvas, where he took the count.