Kiko Martinez has recently been lauded as Spain’s ‘Greatest ever boxer’, a title given to him Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez ahead of Kiko’s World tile victory over Kid Galahad last year. Martinez shocked the World once again with a vicious knockout over Galahad to claim the IBF World Featherweight title.
“It was the plan all along to knock him out! Kid Galahad kept committing the same errors during the fight. Always balancing on his back leg and forgetting to defend himself. So I kept using the same shot, I knew he was getting tired too. I just knew I was going to knock him out!”
Said Kiko Martinez in an exclusive interview for ProBox News.
The current EBU European Super Featherweight Champion has been an ever present fixture in British boxing. Four of Martinez’s last five fights have taken place in the UK, becoming a big hit with the local boxing fans.
“I get great support when I come to the UK. I really feel at home there since most my career has been in the UK, I almost feel like I am from there myself now. When I won against Josh Warrington the first time, I received a lot of support from the fans there after the bad scoring. They gave me a lot of confidence, which was important for my self belief. I’m very thankful for that.”
The two-time World champion’s career is a storied as any other. Kiko Martinez (44-11-2, 31 KOs) has took part in 12 European title fights, winning the blue belt on 8 occasions, the most recent being a demolition job over Jordan Gill in London via a 4th round stoppage.
“The fight before Gill I had the second fight with Josh Warrington. The fans needed to see that I am able to still perform at the best level after my defeat to Josh Warrington. I still believe I can fight the best out there! I think my performance against Gill shows this.”
Despite the recent accolades on the European scene yet again, it’s World honours that Kiko Martinez clearly strives for once more. Having been involved in 9 World title fights and claiming a championship belt in two divisions, Martinez was clearly full of confidence.
“I want to fight Leigh Wood in my next fight! I feel undervalued at the moment by the WBA. I feel I have to prove myself to them. I don’t plan to fight in Spain in the near future, I have lots of work to do in the UK right now. I love going there, but I would consider America too.”
La Sensación has been labelled with the ‘This could be his last fight’ tag for the last couple of years as he reaches 36 years-old. However, the Spaniard from Elche keeps proving the critics wrong, continuing to break the hearts of British contenders over his 18 year professional career. The WBA Regular Featherweight Champion, Leigh Wood the next to hopefully appear on Martinez’s overgrowing list of scalps.
