By Ian S Palmer
WBC Flyweight Champion Julio Cesar Martinez defends his title for the third time this Saturday, June 26th when he meets fellow Mexican Joel Cordova. The 12-rounder from Mexico can be seen live in North America and most of the world on DAZN. Martinez last fought in October when he stopped Moises Calleros in the second round while Cordova last boxed in January when he stopped Ottoniel Zarate in the first round.
The 26-year-old Martinez stopped former champion Cristofer Rosales in the ninth round in December, 2019 to win the belt and beat Jay Harris by unanimous decision in his first defence three months later before stopping Calleros. In August, 2019 he stopped WBC Champ Charlie Edwards in three rounds but the fight was eventually ruled a no-contest as Martinez landed on Edwards while he had a knee on the canvas. Edwards had beaten Rosales by unanimous decision nine months earlier to win the title.
Martinez, who’s also known as Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar, hails from Mexico City and carries a record of 17-1 with 13 Kos to his name. He stands 5-feet-2-inches tall and has a 64-inch reach. He has quite a bit of power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 68.4 per cent and posted nine straight stoppages until Harris took him the distance.
He turned pro in 2015 and has boxed just 80 rounds since with his lone defeat being a four-round split decision to Joaquin Cruz in his pro debut. Martinez then avenged the defeat with an eight-round majority decision the next year. He’s also beaten the likes of former world champion Edgar Sosa as well as Martin Tecuapetla, Andrew Selby, Victor Ruiz and Juan Lopez Martinez.
The 26-year-old Cordova climbs into the ring with a mark of 12-4-2 with 3 Kos and a no-contest. He hasn’t got the greatest record but is unbeaten in his last nine fights including the no-contest. He beat Martin Tecuapetla via an eight-round unanimous decision last July but there was no boxing commission present at the contest due to Covid-19 so the contest wasn’t deemed official.
Cordova stands 5-feet-2-inches tall with a 66-inch reach which means he’s the same height as Martinez and has a two-inch edge in reach. He turned pro in 2016 and has 110 rounds of experience to his name. He obviously lacks power with a current knockout ratio of just 15.8 per cent and he’s been stopped in two of his four losses.
His first defeat came at the hands of Mauricio Lara by fourth-round stoppage in 2016 and was also stopped by Dewayne Beamon in the fourth round two years later. He also dropped a four-round points decision to Ramon Mauricio in 2017 and a six-round split decision to Victor Garcia the same year. His draws came in consecutive fights in 2018 with an eight-round affair against Argi Cortes and a a 10-rounder with Jose Quirino. He then beat Quirino by split decision in a rematch three months later.
Prediction…
The crowd-pleasing Martinez has a decided the edge in power, aggression, skill and experience and this appears to be a mismatch on paper, but stranger things have happened. Cordova’s lack of power will enable the champion to walk right through him at some point and he’s taking a huge step up in class. This fight is to keep Martinez busy since his bout against McWilliams Arroyo in February was called off but he’s really got to start facing some better opponents soon. I’m expecting Martinez to retain his title once again.
