Warrington called the fight the biggest of his life and he certainly fought like one when he beat Martinez after seven rounds.
The referee called the contest halfway at two minutes and 12 seconds of the seventh round when Warrington unloaded on the Spaniard, who was on the ropes.
After Martinez defeated Kid Galahad to win the IBF belt in November, he expressed a strong desire to face Warrington again as he still had a complaint about their first meeting, which Warrington won by majority decision in 2017.
It was the first time the Leeds Warriors had returned to Leeds Arena since they knocked out Sofiane Takoucht in two rounds in October 2019 and they delivered again for the packed crowd.
Warrington later celebrated in the ring, with Leeds United defender Luke Ayling joining in after taking part in the Leeds Warriors’ walk to the ring.
Warrington was extremely aggressive from the first bell but more importantly, incredibly accurate and dropped Martinez in the first round with a ferocious right hand.
Martinez seemed shaken after taking a heavy punishment and let out his frustration with a punch just after the first round ended, earning him a reprimand from the referee.
Another frantic three minutes followed in the second round with Warrington taking the fight to the champion. Martinez was boxing in his 56th professional competition and showed stamina to get through the second round.
Martinez improved a lot in the third round, as he managed to connect several shots to Warrington, who was unable to sustain the same initial pressure on the Spaniard.
In the fourth, Warrington received a third reprimand for leading with the elbow, much to the disdain of the highly partisan home crowd. Martinez had suffered a cut on his face early in the fight and by the end of the fifth he was worse with blood dripping down his face.
By the sixth round, Martinez had recovered from his early knockdown and posed many questions to Warrington, who was coming up with the answer as blood continued to adorn the champ’s face.
The boos rang out early in the seventh when, for the second round in a row, the referee ordered Martinez’s corner to try his cut more. There would be no more booing when the referee stepped in as Warrington unloaded a barrage of shots on Martinez to celebrate being world champion for the second time.
More about this article: Read More
Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-26 23:34:19
