Julio Cesar Martinez wants to unify at flyweight before moving up

WBC flyweight titleholder Julio Cesar Martinez shot to relevance in 2019, upsetting Andrew Selby in Mexico before making a trip to the UK where he destroyed Charlie Edwards only to have the fight end in a no-contest, and then closing the year by winning the vacant WBC flyweight belt with a ninth round stoppage of Cristofer Rosales.

Now 25, Martinez (16-1, 12 KO) continued looking strong in February, proving he could fight a tough 12 rounds against the very game Jay Harris, and trainer Eddy Reynoso says the rising star has the tools to break out even more.

“He’s very disciplined,” said Reynoso on “Peleamundo.” “He shows all the characteristics of a typical Mexican fighter. He likes to fight. He likes to train and more than anything, he’s a star. In such few fights he’s already won a world championship and I believe if he keeps on the same path, he’s going to do great things because he’s a good fighter who’s very fond of learning, he’s very technical. He’s there. He’s a great champion.

“He’s charismatic, he’s brave, he’s a very strong fighter for the division. He has lots of endurance. He’s not scared. Whatever fight you put him in, he’ll fight. He’s different than the other fighters. He has a few things to learn, but we’re going to vary the training to get him more technically sound fight by fight.”

Reynoso says they have plans to unify at 112 before any move up to 115.

“We’re going to keep him at flyweight and try to defend and unify with (Kosei) Tanaka or (Moruti) Mthalane,” the trainer/manager said. “And we’re getting harder fights little by little. We’ll move up to 115 to fight (Juan Francisco) Estrada, (Carlos) Cuadras, Chocolatito — there’s so many good fighters and I believe it’s step-by-step.”