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Jordan Gill, who was impressive in a three-round smashing of Emmanuel Dominguez this past Saturday, is now taking aim at the European featherweight title and its holder, Spanish veteran Kiko Martinez.
Gill (23-0, 7 KO) is an emerging featherweight prospect and at 24, is probably about as ready as he’s going to get to step to that European level. He’s already won the Commonwealth title, and he wants to make his way to the world stage sooner than later.
Here’s what he told Sky Sports:
“He is a seasoned pro, he is a veteran, he is a former world champion. Everybody in boxing knows who Kiko Martinez is. Everybody knows that he is a very, very good fighter. ... I think it is very likely. It is all down to the promoters and the managers and I would love to make it happen.”
Martinez (39-8-2, 28 KO) is a former world titleholder at 122 pounds, beating Jhonatan Romero back in 2013, and making successful defenses against Jeffrey Mathebula and Hozumi Hasegawa before losing his title to Carl Frampton in 2014.
He is perhaps best known at this point for some of his losses, namely those to Frampton (twice), Scott Quigg, Leo Santa Cruz, and Josh Warrington. He’s well-known to UK audiences thanks to his fights with Frampton, Quigg, and Warrington, and also a pair of defeats against Rendall Munroe in 2008-09.
And he is a really strong European-level fighter, having won the European titles at 122 and 126 in his career. At 32, he’s still hanging around as a high-level gatekeeper, having beaten Marc Vidal for the European featherweight title in his last outing in October.
All in all, he’d be a legitimate, tough next step for Gill, and it’s an interesting matchup.