Wonder Boy
Martin rocks Riyadh, stuns favorite Picasso
Carl Jammes Martin celebrates the biggest win of his career — a split decision over favored Mexican Alan David Picasso early Sunday morning — in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
photograph courtesy of The Ring
Heavy-handed Filipino southpaw Carl Jammes “Wonder Boy” Martin shocked the heavily-favored Alan David Picasso of Mexico via a split decision in their tactical 10-round featherweight bout held Saturday night (early Sunday morning in Manila) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Despite suffering a flash seventh-round knockdown, courtesy of a jab by Picasso, the undefeated Martin won on the scorecards of Argentinian Jorge Gorini, 95-94, and American Barry Linderman, 96-93. Italian Guido Cavalleri saw it for Picasso, 95-94.
Picasso entered the match as the favorite given his experience, having gone the full route with pound-for-pound king Naoya “Monster” Inoue last year also in Riyadh.
The win raised Martin’s win-loss-draw card to 29-0-0 with 21 knockouts while the loss dropped Picasso’s mark to 33-2-1 with 18 knockouts.
“I learned a lot in the US I trained so much. I found so much good sparring. I won, I won, the WBC (World Boxing Council) Silver title!” a jubilant Martin, nicknamed “Wonder Boy,” said as quoted by NYFights.
In the sixth round, Martin land a solid right that rocked the taller Picasso during a heated exchange.
Martin’s appearance in Riyadh was made possible by his American promoter Sean Gibbons, whose Knuckleheads Boxing training facility in Las Vegas, hosted the initial phase of the boxer’s training camp.
By upsetting Picasso, the Ifugao-born southpaw bagged the WBC Silver crown and raised his stock in the talented 126-pound division.
On hand to congratulate Martin on top of the ring was WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.
The Martin-Picasso clash was a part of the Canelo Alvarez headliner that featured fighters from Mexico against the rest of the world.
Presented by Turki Alalshik, the Saudi sports stakeholder, the show was held at the Kingdom Arena.
Meanwhile, talks inside Martin’s camp suggest that Marvin Somodio could be tapped as trainer given his role in the last three weeks of his preparations.
Before flying to Saudi Arabia, Martin trained under Somodio at Manny Pacquiao’s newly-opened gym in Hollywood.
“Martin admitted that he learned a lot from Marvin and the team would welcome his inclusion,” said a member of Martin’s team in Riyadh.
Somodio is Freddie Roach’s right-hand man at the Wild Card Boxing Club and a member of Pacquiao’s training team.
Indeed, things are looking up for Martin.