Martin: Sky’s the limit

After his morale-boosting win over David Picasso, sky is the limit for undefeated fighter Carl Jammes Martin.

The 27-year-old Filipino is looking to continue taking on rated boxers in the featherweight division or if the opportunity arises, fight for the World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight crown where he is currently ranked No. 1.

Martin bared several options open for him and his team during Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) media room where he was joined by his father and trainer Abel Martin.

“For me, I want opponents who are ranked even higher than Picasso — someone in the top three or top four rankings — and we want a bigger name and a world championship fight next,” he bared.

“However, our main priority remains a championship in the super-bantamweight division,” Martin added. “But if an offer comes for a championship at featherweight, I’ll gladly stay here for now.”

Martin guested in the session presented by San Miguel Corporation, PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, and the country’s 24/7 sports app ArenaPlus, just a day after scoring a split decision win over Picasso in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez-Christian Mbilli WBC super-middleweight title fight.

In beating Picasso, who lost to Inoue by unanimous decision last year, the Ifugao fighter kept his unbeaten record at 29-0 with 21 KOs.

Martin, who sported a small blot just below his right eye, said he’s open for a rematch with Picasso following a request the Mexican made after bout.

But for the elder Martin, everything else depends on what his son’s handlers led by international matchmaker Sean Gibbons, will offer them next.

“I told him, ‘Sure.’ I am a man of my word — I stand by my principles, and I will accept the offer you made to me. After all, I was the one who moved up to his weight division, so why wouldn’t I grant his request?” Martin said.

“Sir Sean Gibbons mentioned that we just need to stay prepared. So, we’ll probably take a month off to rest,” said Martin’s trainer.

“We’ll ease back into it gradually so that when the fight schedule is finalized, we’ll be ready to launch into regular training camp.”