By Sevak Sarkisian: On the night of December 3rd of this year, I was sitting at home watching some of the undercard fights for the Cotto vs. Margarito match-up on the Top Rank website. They were all obvious showcase fights.
However, some fights were more competitively matched up then others. But over two weeks has passed since then, and none of those undercard fights stick out in my mind, except for one. That one fight was Hanzel Martinez vs. Felipe Castaneda!
The four rounder featured a limited but durable fighter in Castaneda against a hungry up and coming 20 year old prospect in Hanzel Martinez. As soon as the first bell rang, Martinez pounced right on top of Castaneda applying immense pressure by constantly pressing forward and always punching.
With every second that went by, Martinez seemed to throw a punch, most of them being power shots. The fight was fought in close quarters with both fighters fighting in the pocket. However, Martinez was averaging over 200 punches a round and was simply over whelming his opponent. I personally have never seen a fighter throw more than 200 punches a round with strong conviction without punching himself out.
Hanzel Martinez did this for four rounds and won a unanimous decision against a durable opponent in Castaneda. Hanzel fights like a typical Mexican pressure fighter and fights very much like countrymen Antonio Margarito. However, Martinez fights at super flyweight and throws many more punches and is much busier than Margarito.
While Martinez doesn’t have the fastest hand speed or super athleticism, he makes up for it with his size, conditioning, stamina, grit, and extreme pressure. As of now his record stands at fifteen wins and zero losses, twelve of those wins coming by way of knockout. Though his record is impressive he hasn’t yet faced any world class fighters. In my opinion that’s ok because he’s only twenty years of age. Look out for this kid to be showcased on a major network within the next year and a half. Not only do I believe this kid has the goods, but he also provides fans with an all action style. Stay tuned.