It is clear after Frank Martin’s brilliant and one-sided win over Michel Rivera, that Martin deserves to be mentioned amongst the best in the lightweight division. The tricky southpaw, who is promoted by Errol Spence Jr.’s Man Down Promotions, and trained by Derrick James feels as though he is a future world champion. Now, Martin is just waiting on that big moment to shine.
As with everything, when you have too much success, you will also have a lot of trouble. Boxing trouble translates to people either mentioning you far too often or using your name as a platform to get articles written about themselves based on your success. In a recent interview with great journalist, Hans Themistode of FightHype.com, Martin addressed some of the fighters who have brought up his name recently.
The fight Martin is referencing is a competitive bout between Chris Colbert, who fought at the lightweight division limit against Jose Valenzuela, but now has gone back to the super featherweight division. Colbert was dropped in the first round of the fight and hurt multiple times in the fight. In recent interviews, Chris Colbert has brought up Martin’s name and even proposed a fight with the emerging lightweight contender. The only catch is that Colbert is looking to fight Martin at super featherweight, according to interviews conducted lately. Martin, who is a lightweight objects to this completely.
“Why would I go to [super featherweight] to fight [Chris Colbert],” elaborated Frank Martin to FightHype.com. “I’d fight him, but come to [lightweight]. I would hurt Chris [Colbert]. A lot of these guys are living off their amateur background. The amateurs is the amateurs…every good amateur isn’t a good pro.”
As for another fighter who has mentioned Martin’s name, Keyshawn Davis, who will fight this Saturday, April 8th, at the Prudential Center, in Newark, New Jersey, on ESPN, against Anthony Yigit. Martin had more respect for Davis, it appeared but also feels that Davis has a very clear cleaning in terms of where he can go as a fighter. A take we have yet to hear from a big-name fighter.
“[Keyshawn Davis] is good, but it doesn’t matter who you are sparring,” said Martin. “You could spar Shakur [Stevenson], you could spar Terence Crawford, that is good sparring, that is great sparring, but a lot of times these guys have been boxing since they were kids. How much more can [Keyshawn Davis] grow? [Davis] is sparring the top guys right now, and you [are not even] dogging the fighters that they put in front of you, like your supposed to, considering the work you’re getting. All [Davis] can do is get stronger, but when it comes to the skillset, how much can his [in-ring] IQ grow.”
