Julio Cesar Martinez still has a fight but with plenty of work left ahead.
The WBC flyweight titlist failed on two official attempts to make the 115-pound contracted limit for his scheduled 12-round junior bantamweight fight with legendary former four-division champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez. Martinez weighed 116.4 on his second try, nearly two hours after weighing a beefy 117 pounds during the official commission weigh-in Friday morning.
Nicaragua’s Gonzalez (50-3, 41KOs) weighed 114.pounds on the first try for Saturday’s DAZN main event, which airs live from Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
As of Friday afternoon, the fight will proceed though with the stipulation of a same-day weigh-in to take place 9:00 a.m. local time Saturday. Per California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) rules, Martinez (18-1, 14KOs; 2ND) must weigh no heavier than 10% above the contracted limit—126.5 pounds—to avoid a mandatory fine. CSAC rules call for an immediate cancelation if a fighter weighs more than 15% above the contracted limit—132.25 pounds, as it relates to this fight.
Mexico City’s Martinez accepted the fight on six weeks’ notice, replacing lineal/WBA junior bantamweight champion Juan Francisco ‘El Gallo’ Estrada (42-3, 28KOs) who tested positive for Covid in January. Martinez has reigned as WBC flyweight titlist since December 2019, but whose title reign has been plagued by injuries, illness and past struggles to shrink down to the flyweight limit.
The hope of taking a fight three pounds above his normal weight would alleviate that concern, though Martinez still fell miserably short. As a result, he is no longer eligible to claim the WBC Diamond junior bantamweight title which is now only at stake for Gonzalez. The significance behind the trinket is that the WBC was prepared to order the winner to next face Estrada, who remains the recognized WBC “Franchise” title.
Gonzalez hoped to avenge a controversial split decision defeat to Estrada in their terrific rematch last March 13 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The fight came more than eight years after their equally memorable November 2012 junior flyweight title fight, where Gonzalez won by unanimous decision.
–boxingscene.com
