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Julio Cesar Martinez got back in the ring tonight in Guadalajara, Mexico, and put on another fun show, stopping Joel Cordova in the sixth round to retain his WBC flyweight title.
It was definitely an action fight, as the big underdog Cordova (12-5-2, 3 KO) gave it everything he had, but Martinez (18-1, 14 KO) just had too much firepower, and the action fight was always going to favor him.
Here’s a look at the full highlights:
Martinez praised Cordova’s toughness after the fight, and promoter Eddie Hearn was in the house to talk about what might be next.
“I believe the kid is a superstar,” Hearn said. “I think he should unify first at flyweight, whether that’s Sunny Edwards, whether that’s (Artem) Dalakian, whether that’s (Junto) Nakatani, and then I see him moving up to super flyweight, maybe even to bantamweight over time.”
Hearn also floated the idea of a future fight with Juan Francisco Estrada, currently the top fighter at 115.
“A fight with Juan (Francisco) Estrada is an absolute super-fight in Mexico,” Hearn said. “I think we can make that happen, and we’ll see (Martinez) back out in September. ... I believe he has to unify, and then those fights with Estrada, Chocolatito Gonzalez, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Carlos Cuadras — they’re there for him.”
In the night’s co-feature, Cuban Daniel Matellon (12-0-2, 6 KO) won a hard-fought decision over Jose Argumedo (24-5-1, 15 KO) on scores of 115-113, 115-113, and 117-111.
Argumedo was last out in March, but that was shaking rust after two years of activity. He’s a former titleholder at 105 lbs, and was fighting at 108 here for an interim WBA belt. The win puts the 33-year-old Matellon right in the mix in that volatile division, and Argumedo proved he still has plenty to give, too. Don’t count him out going forward.