Javier Martinez suffered a knockdown during the third round Friday, but the middleweight prospect from Milwaukee came back to defeat Donte Stubbs by unanimous decision in a six-rounder.
The left-handed Martinez mostly out-worked Stubbs, particularly to the body, on his way to winning by scores of 59-56, 58-55 and 58-55 on the Jose Ramirez-Jose Pedraza undercard at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Martinez, 26, improved to 6-0 (2 KOs) and went the distance in a second straight six-round bout.
Stubbs, a former MMA fighter from Riverside, California, dropped to 6-4 (2 KOs).
Stubbs showed toughness throughout the sixth round, when he took Martinez’s best punches, pressed forward and landed flush shots of his own.
An assertive Martinez unloaded an array of power punches that made a fatigued Stubbs hold him just after the midway mark of the fifth round. By then, a cut developed beneath the left eye of Stubbs.
Martinez landed multiple left hands with just under one minute on the clock in the fourth round. The favored fighter then dug to Stubbs’ body again later in the fourth round.
A right-left combination by Martinez affected Stubbs about 40 seconds into the third round. Stubbs bravely moved forward, but he was mostly met with hard head and body blows for most of the rest of the third round.
Seemingly out of nowhere, however, Stubbs landed a straight right hand that send Martinez to the seat of his trunks with 15 seconds to go in the third round. Martinez reached his feet quickly after what appeared to be a flash knockdown.
Within a 10-second span in the final minute of the second round, Martinez drilled Stubbs with a hard right to the body and then a flush left to the body. Martinez landed a stiff jab and then a counter right hook just before the first round ended.
In the bout before Martinez’s victory, Charlie Sheehy showed the power that has Top Rank’s matchmakers high on his potential.
The 23-year-old lightweight prospect dropped Johnny Bernal with a right hand a little less than two minutes into their four-round, 135-pound bout. Denver’s Bernal reached his feet, but an aggressive Sheehy overpowered him and bloodied his nose.
Once Sheehy snapped Bernal’s head back with a left hand and backed him into the ropes, referee Marcos Rosales halted the action 2:33 into the first round.
Sheehy, of Brisbane, California, improved to 2-0 and recorded his second knockout. The 19-year-old Bernal fell to 2-1 (2 KOs).
In the first fight Friday, 6-foot-9, 259-pound heavyweight prospect Antonio Mireles stopped previously unbeaten Brandon Hughes early in the second round of a scheduled four-rounder.
The left-handed Mireles landed an overhand left that knocked Phoenix’s Hughes (2-1, 2 KOs) to the canvas. Referee Edward Collantes stopped the action as soon as Hughes went down to his gloves and knees, 1:04 into the second round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.