Kiko Martínez

Kiko Martinez
Data
Birth Name	Francisco Martínez Sánchez
Fight name	La Sensación
Weight class	Super bantamweight
nationality	Spanish
birthday	March 7, 1986
place of birth	Moose
style	Left delivery
size	1.65 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	51
Victories	40
Knockout victories	28
Defeats	9
draw	2

Francisco "Kiko" Martínez Sánchez (born March 7, 1986 in Elche , Valencian Community ) is a Spanish professional boxer . He became Spain's first world champion in super bantamweight and the first Spanish boxing world champion in three and a half years by winning the IBF title in August 2013 . He is also a five-time EBU European champion .

From 2011 to 2014 he was chosen by ESPABOX as Spain's Boxer of the Year.

Career

Martínez began boxing as a teenager and played around 40 amateur fights before moving to the pros in 2004. There he won 17 fights in a row, 14 of them prematurely. He also defeated the undefeated eventual world champion Bernard Dunne (24-0, 14 knockout) in Dublin by knockout in the first round and thus became the first European super bantamweight champion. In his first title defense he suffered a defeat for the first time when he was declared in Nottingham after twelve rounds to narrow points loser against Englishman Rendall Munroe (13-1). In a rematch, again in England, Martinez lost again on points over twelve rounds.

He got his first chance for a world title in an elimination match in Johannesburg in 2009 against the South African and eventual world champion Takalani Ndlovu (29-5). However, he was subject to this on points over twelve rounds. In 2010 he won the European title again in Dublin by winning points against the Frenchman of Armenian origin Arsen Martirosyan (16-3). He defended this against Jason Booth (36-6) and in the rematch against Martirosyan (18-4).

He suffered his first premature defeat in his third defense of the title in early 2013 in Belfast against Carl Frampton (15-0). Shortly before the end of the ninth round, Martinez fell to the ground due to a counterattack by the Briton and did not recover in time, which is why the Finnish referee Anssi Perajoki broke off the fight.

In August 2013 he won the IBF world title against the undefeated Colombian title holder Jhonatan Romero (23-0, 12 knockout). Martinez was the more aggressive boxer from the start and won the duel in Atlantic City by TKo in the sixth round after referee David Fields ended the fight in Martinez's favor.

At the end of the year he defended the title in Spain by knockout in the ninth round against South African former world champion Jeffrey Mathebula (27-4). In April 2014 he defended the title in Osaka again by TKo in the seventh round against the two-time world champion Hozumi Hasegawa (33-4). In September 2014 he met Carl Frampton (18-0) again in Belfast, this time in a world championship fight. Frampton dominated the fight with his jabs and body hits and was able to secure victory on points over twelve rounds.

In July 2015 Martínez boxed for the WBA world title in Manchester , but was defeated by British title holder Scott Quigg (30-0, 22 K. o.). Referee Terry O'Connor ended the fight after two knockdowns by the Spaniard in the second round.

On February 27, 2016, he played a world championship fight for the WBA featherweight title in California. Martínez had no chance against title holder Léo Santa Cruz (31-0, 17 knockout), went down twice in the first round and lost in the fifth round by knockout. In May 2017, he lost just on points to Josh Warrington (24-0) in the fight for the WBC international featherweight title.

In a renewed European championship fight on May 19, 2018, he reached a draw against Marc Vidal, but won the rematch and thus the European title on October 27, 2018.

On May 18, 2019, he lost the fight for the WBC Featherweight Championship by TKo in the fifth round against Gary Russell junior (29-1). On the advice of the ring doctor, the referee had ended the fight due to a cut injury over Martínez's left eye.

Web links

• BoxRec profile

predecessor	Office	successor
Jhonatan Romero	World Superbantamweight Boxing Champion ( IBF ) August 17, 2013 - September 6, 2014	Carl Frampton