Julio Cesar Martinez has a penchant of fighting with flair.
His straight rights perforate with the pop of his foot coming down hard on the canvas as the leather of his glove smacks its target crisply.
His hooks sweep in an upward swing with Martinez often leaving his hand up in the air on the follow-through for extra style points — the equivalent of a Steph Curry leaving his shooting form in the air and admiring his three-point work as the ball finds the bottom of the net. Oh, so pretty.
At 5'2", he literally jumps into every punch.
Martinez is as much of an entertainer and artist as fighter, with his broad brushstrokes painting his opponent like a canvas in the ring.
Tuned-in boxing critics and fans already recognize Martinez’s skills. But the WBC flyweight world champion daring to be great and moving up to face former four-division world champion and pound-for-pound warrior, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, gives Martinez the opportunity to make the biggest splash of his stellar skill set yet. The super flyweight tilt takes place March 5 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego and live on DAZN.
And look no further than an interview that Eddie Hearn did with The DAZN Boxing Show in January to know how Martinez jumped into the genesis of this dream bout.
Gonzalez (50-3, 41 KOs) was originally set to face Juan Francisco Estrada in a highly-anticipated trilogy before the latter tested positive for COVID-19, dashing those plans. Somehow, as Hearn explained to Ak & Barak, the match ultimately found a way to become more mouthwatering.
“All of a sudden, I think to myself ‘what about that crazy son of a gun you’ve got at flyweight?’ the Matchroom Boxing chairman said at the time. “I was like ‘Julio Cesar Martinez-Chocolatito’ is just one of the great fights, one of the great moments where a young fighter says ‘I’ll do it’ and ‘Chocolatito’ says ‘I have no fear.’
“I reach out to Eddy Reynoso, of course Martinez’s manager, ‘Oh, I love it,’ he said, ‘my crazy man will be ready.’
Hearn added: “The camps talk to each other and 48 hours later, we have just I believe a bloodbath. I think it will be more explosive (than Gonzalez-Estrada III).”
I agree. On paper, this super flyweight bout has the chance to be a Fight of the Year contender. You have “Chocolatito” agreeing to test his skills against a young bull seven years his junior and Martinez (18-1, 14 KOs) daring to be great by taking on the best opponent he has ever faced.
The super fight oozes potential. The sheer manner at which Martinez answered the bell after the Gonzalez-Estrada III fallout tells you how hungry Martinez is to fight a great to demonstrate his own greatness.
We’ve seen a splattering of his skills across the canvas already, whether it be defeating Cristofer Rosales in a ninth-round TKO to win the WBC flyweight world title or defending the strap against the likes of Jay Harris, Moises Calleros and Joel Cordova with piercing performances.
Becoming the first Mexican to ever produce a stoppage of Gonzalez would be Martinez’s greatest feat yet … especially if he can do it in style. He's already stepped up. Now, let's see if he can show out against one of boxing's very best.
DAZN News will bring you all the live updates, results and highlights from “Chocolatito” vs. Martinez on Saturday night, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.