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SAN DIEGO – Julio Cesar Martinez is cleared to fight.
The WBC flyweight titlist complied with the same-day weigh-in terms required to proceed with his scheduled 12-round junior bantamweight fight with legendary former four-division champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez. Martinez checked in at 122.8 pounds in the presence of the California State Athletic Commission during Saturday’s weight check, less than 24 hours after twice coming in over the limit during the official pre-fight weigh-in.
“Estoy listo (“I’m ready”),” a jubilant—and relieved—Martinez exclaimed to BoxingScene.com on his way to the scale, confident of hitting the mark.
Per CSAC rules, Martinez was required to weigh no heavier than 10% more than the 115-pound contracted limit—126.5 pounds—on Saturday to avoid a fine as well as further risk a cancellation of the scheduled DAZN main event (Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. local time). The commission would have been required to automatically cancel the fight had Martinez weighed 132.25 pounds—15% more than the contracted limit—or heavier during the morning session.
Martinez weighed 117 pounds during his first trip to the scale on Friday. CSAC rules allow for a two-hour period to shed the extra weight, though Mexico City’s Martinez managed to only get down to 116.4 pounds, officially 1.4 pounds above the junior bantamweight limit.
Nicaragua’s Gonzalez (50-3, 41KOs)—a former four-division champion and future Hall of Famer—weighed 114.8 pounds on the first try for Saturday’s DAZN main event, which airs live from Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
Martinez was fined 20% of his reported $250,000 purse, with the $50,000 extraction split 50/50 between Gonzalez and the CSAC.
The makeshift main event was finalized once Martinez (18-1, 14KOs; 2ND) accepted the fight on just six weeks’ notice, replacing lineal/WBA junior bantamweight champion Juan Francisco ‘El Gallo’ Estrada (42-3, 28KOs) who tested positive for Covid in January. Martinez has reigned as WBC flyweight titlist since December 2019, but whose title reign has been plagued by injuries, illness and past struggles to shrink down to the flyweight limit.
The hope of taking a fight three pounds above his normal weight would alleviate that concern, though Martinez still fell miserably short on Friday. As a result, he is no longer eligible to claim the WBC Diamond junior bantamweight title which is now only at stake for Gonzalez. The significance behind the trinket is that the WBC was prepared to order the winner to next face Estrada, who remains the recognized WBC “Franchise” title.
Gonzalez hoped to avenge a controversial split decision defeat to Estrada in their terrific rematch last March 13 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The fight came more than eight years after their equally memorable November 2012 junior flyweight title fight, where Gonzalez won by unanimous decision.
Martinez was the only scale fail on Friday, with the remaining 17 participants across nine fights all meeting the contractual terms of the official pre-fight weigh-in.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox