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We recently witnessed Lightweight Frank Martin‘s – an Errol Spence Jr “protégé” – 16th professional fight, and I thought the 27 year old contender looked darn decent and right on schedule for a title shot within the coming 12 to 24 months. I’ll go so far as to say that in a manner of speaking, Martin resembles his “chargé” – and promoter – , in the sense that I found him to be somewhat similar to Spence. He’s certainly starting to put the remainder of the 135 pounders on notice. As today’s younglings would aptly slang it, “he on the come up…!”
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From what I could observe, Martin possesses very good balance due to his excellent footwork and body weight displacement, godsend accuracy and excepcional poise. Frank measures (and closes) his distance expertly, he appears to be physically very strong and well-conditioned, his power looks more than serviceable and I found his technique to be crisp and especially compact.
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Defensively I thought he looked better than Errol himself, with subtle head and waist movement, but above all, he looked very tight and seemed impressive at close-quarters (exquisite bodywork), where his upper body motion and hooks were quite inspired.
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Now, his promoter is already banging the drums for a clash vs the brazenfaced and garrulous Rolando “Rolly” Romero. That would be an intriguing fight to be sure, and also interesting matchmaking, if you consider that Romero is not exactly the best Lightweight in the world, but he is certainly one of the most mediatic fights to be made at that weight, and a win would certainly garner Frank Martins a lot of buzz in the industry.
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I can understand the comparisons being made, after all, this past Saturday, Frank demolished Jackson Marinez in 10 rounds, while in August of 2020, the very same Marinez took “Rolly” the full 12 rounds stretch, and in many people’s eyes, Marinez deserved the win on points. While I can most assuredly understand that logic, I should point out, that that would be comparing Rolly’ worst night to Frank Martin’s best outing.
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In my opinion, it would be wiser to instead consider Rolly’s most recent fight – vs Gervonta Davis – because that particular scrimmage, while a losing effort, “represented” Rolly at his best so far. Coming into the Davis vs Rolly scuffle, frankly I thought Rolly was going to get KOed inside of 4 stanzas. This past May 28th, I felt Rolly looked – considering the expectations… – imposing, he was clearly motivated, as I never before had seen him in that kind of shape.
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He looked extremely strong and we all know about his vaunted punching power. I feel that that is the version of Romero that Mr Martin’s brain trust should have in mind when considering such a precarious context. They should compare Martin at his best vs Romero equally at his best. I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to say that Romero’s is technically deficient, in fact, I felt there were moments last May where he outperformed “Tank” in the finer aspects of the game.
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But having written that, I do believe that the main “separator” in an hypothetical fight between Mrs Martin and Romero, is that the Texan (Martin) seems to be more technically proficient and refined, while Romero appears to have the edge as far as pure athletic ability is concerned. If I’d have to wager, I’ll also claim that Martins is probably the more disciplined of the two in between training camps.
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Lightweight is Boxing’s most talented stacked division right now, with names like Vasily Lomachenko, Devin Haney, George Kambosos Jr, Gervonta Davis, Teófimo Lopez – for now… – Ryan Garcia, Isaac Cruz, etc. In fact, it isn’t just Frank Martin that cannot crack the division’s Top 10, Romero can’t break in either.
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If I was managing Mr. Martin’s budding professional career, I’d like to eventually see him in there with men such as Joseph Diaz, Isaac Cruz, Javier Fortuna or Jeremia Nakathila. and afterwards, if successful, I’d(we’d!) all love to see him tangle with somebody like Richard Commey. Maybe even William Zepeda or Gustavo Daniel Lemos, if of course, the adequate financial compensation presents itself and can be agreed upon, that would justify endangering’s Martin’s 0 in the gaze of today’s invincibility-minded fanbase.
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Speaking of the aforementioned names, I think a case can be made that all those names are either top 10 135 pounders or certainly within shooting distance of such an exulted ranking. Why risk Martin’s pristine undefeated record against a hard punching fighter like Romero, when Martin likely has the tools and “ring IQ” to either outclass or overpower men like Diaz and Cruz? Why go looking for “trouble” just for “clout chasing”? Come off it, young man!
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It should also be pointed out, that the very popular – and at times… annoying – Ryan Garcia will be in action – vs Javier Fortuna – this coming Saturday, and afterwards, all of the above considered names will be in the running for his “sweepstakes”. After all, who wouldn’t desire a payday against he who is probably one of the Top 5 biggest attractions in the sport?
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I reckon that there is a first-string chance that before Christmas, we’ll see Ryan in there versus a “Jojo” Diaz or Isaac Cruz, or maybe even Rolly Romero or Mario Barrios, as I’m sure Garcia’s high-level advisory cabinet would cherish the thought of matching Ryan against some of Gervonta Davis’s past adversaries such as Cruz or Romero, so that a favorable- in theory… – “juxtaposition” could be made.
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Rumblings have also come across Boxing’s landscape regarding the possibility of next matching Martin vs the “mouthy” Junior-Lightweight’s Chris Colbert. I would deem that to be a good fight. Perilous for both sides, as Colbert – an overrated talent, especially, by casuals – would be amply motivated, does have some technical ability and is a slick fighter. But I do envision Martin being too much for him already at this stage of his burgeoning career.
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I should also point out that Martin looks like a big lightweight, while Colbert has mostly been campaigning at 130 pounds. I have little doubt that eventually, we shall see Mr Martin operate at Junior-Welterweight, and maybe even further than that.
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Regardless of wherever his course takes him next, I’ll definitely be a most interested observer. While not yet a top 10 contestant, Frank Martin has shown the requisite skills in order to merit our attention and respect. We shall all look forward to his next engagement with a measured amount of sanguineness, as he maneuvers to eventually become a proper suitor for Devin Haney’s “Crown”.
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ON THE TOPIC OF CORPULENCE AND… GREYSTOKE:
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Saw – just a few moments ago – images of the Jake Paul vs Hasim Rahman Jr publicity face-off produced in order to promote their upcoming fight on August 6th, and I thought the insufferable – but heavy-handed – Paul, although heavily clothed, looked quite heavy, both in his abdomen and his “derrière“.
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With only 25 days left to go in order to hit 200 pounds(or less) on the scales, young Mr Paul looked pretty bulky for all to see. Yes, the abhorrent one (merely my personal assessment…) looked more like an outsized “Jane” than he looked like Tarzan. I had no inkling that eating liver or bone marrow could make one become so plump. One thing is for certain, henceforth, I shall never again purchase, nor consume «foie gras»…
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Wallack’s Point,
Wednesday, July 13th, 2022,
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Text: Ronald William Miller.
Image: All rights reserved.
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