Martin shocks Picasso

Hard-hitting Filipino southpaw Carl Jammes Martin stunned the heavily-favored Alan David Picasso of Mexico via a split decision in their 10-round featherweight bout held Saturday night (early Sunday morning in Manila) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Despite a 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.

The victory boosted Martin’s win-loss-draw mark to 29-0-0 with 21 knockouts while the loss dropped Picasso’s card to 33-2-1 with 18 knockouts.

“I learned a lot in the U.S. I trained so much. I found so much good sparring. I won, I won, the WBC Silver title!” a jubilant Martin said as quoted by NYFights.

Martin’s appearance in Riyadh was made possible by his American promoter Sean Gibbons, whose Knuckleheads Boxing training facility in Las Vegas, hosted the boxer’s training camp.

By upsetting Picasso, the Ifugao-born southpaw bagged the World Boxing Council Silver crown.