Sandor Martin continues to ride high off his career-best win.
The streaking contender from Barcelona enjoyed a hero’s welcome home in the form of a dominant, ten-round win over Jose Felix in their junior welterweight bout Friday evening from Palau Olímpic Vall d’Hebron in Barcelona, Spain. Judges Luigi Boscarelli (100-90), Karoline Outz (99-91) and Salvador Salva (100-90) all scored in favor of Martin, who maximized the momentum gained from his brilliant upset win over Mikey Garcia last October in Fresno, California.
Martin looked to make a statement right from the outset, connecting with a right hook barely fifteen seconds into the fight. Felix took the shot well but was forced to follow Martin’s lead for much of the early going.
Action remained in favor of the local hero, with Martin absorbing the cheers from the partisan crowd whenever he landed any punch of substance. Martin was effective with his straight left hand, often thrown from long range and behind a pawing jab.
Felix was able to cut off the ring and land several meaningful shots in round five. Martin was unbothered by the brief momentum, riding out a left hand by Felix to land a body shot as well as another upstairs.
Martin quickly turned the tide back in his favor early in the second half of the fight and never looked back. Felix struggled to defend against Martin’s left hand both upstairs and to the body. Felix avoided a knockdown call after falling to the canvas, as referee Manuel Oliver Palomo accurately ruled a push.
Action remained in favor of the Spanish southpaw in round seven. Felix was limited to one punch at a time, with Martin providing few counterpunching opportunities for the former interim title challenger.
The crowd was drawn to its feet as Martin went on the attack in round eight, driving Felix to the ropes and threatening a stoppage. Felix rode out the early storm but once again found himself under siege in the final minute of the round.
Felix once again found himself on the canvas at the end of round nine, though with the bell sounding and the referee opting to not issue a count. Martin landed a straight left hand just before the sequence, though missing out on a two-point round didn’t have any impact on the scores in the end. Felix had much bigger issues, including a cut above his nose and swelling around both eyes.
The instructions from Martin’s corner prior to the tenth and final round were to not get careless. Martin refused to sit on his lead, initiating every offensive exchange and immediately positioning his right glove to pick off counter shot attempts by Felix (39-6-1, 30KOs). Martin maintained that level of aggression until the final bell, pumping his arm as he soaked in the thunderous applause.
Martin improves to 40-2 (13KOs), not squandering any of the momentum gained from his career-best win over Garcia less than six months ago. The streaking contender now sets his sights on a junior welterweight title, with at least one belt likely to be up for grabs as undisputed champion Josh Taylor eyeing a move to the welterweight division.
The win is the eleventh in a row for Martin, spanning more than four years following a September 2017 points loss to then-unbeaten Anthony Yigit, who went on to challenge for a junior welterweight title.
Martin-Felix topped a five-fight telecast that aired live on DAZN.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox