Undefeated lightweight Frank Martin stopped previously unbeaten Jerry Perez in the seventh-round Tuesday night headlining FS1 PBC Fight Night and on FOX Deportes from Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
The battle of rising lightweight prospects saw Martin (13-0, 10 KOs) breakthrough in that seventh round, as he landed a crushing left hook that floored Perez late in the frame. Perez (13-1, 10 KOs) was able to rise to his feet, but a follow up attack from Martin forced referee Jerry Cantu to waive off the bout 2:59 into the round.
“I saw the shot coming the round before,” said Martin, who is trained by renowned coach Derrick James. “I was going to the left looking for it, but I couldn’t find the right distance. In the next round, Derrick told me he was leaning and that helped me find the distance to land it.”
Martin controlled the fight with his movement and jab early and set the pace as the busier fighter, throwing 405 punches to Perez’s 222 according to CompuBox. He more than doubled Perez’s output of punches landed with a 100 to 47 advantage.
“I felt good in there,” said Martin. “I just followed the game plan that Derrick gave me. He told me to go out there and use my feet. I hurt him at every step of the fight. Everything Derrick asked me to do was working.”
Perez had perhaps his best round in the fourth, as he found some success breaking through Martin’s defense with counter left hooks to the head. Martin was able to shake off the rough patch and was well in control on the cards at the time of the stoppage, having only lost one round on one judge’s card.
“He was physically strong but there wasn’t anything he did that affected me,” said Martin. “This win is a big blessing. I’m just going to stay humble and keep moving forward and getting better.”
In the co-main event, 22-year-old middleweight prospect Armando Resendiz (12-0, 8 KOs) was victorious in his U.S. debut as he defeated Quilisto Madera (12-3, 8 KOs) by split-decision in their eight-round battle.
“My team and I knew this was going to be a tough opponent,” said Resendiz. “We prepared hard for this fight and all the fights that are coming for me. I want to keep building up to harder fights and eventually face the world champions at middleweight and super middleweight.”
The Nayarit, Mexico native Resendiz rode a 46% connect rate on power punches to an eventual 130 to 84 edge in punches landed across the contest. Resendiz took a lead in the fight by winning rounds two through four on all three cards, with Madera coming on strong in the second half of the fight.
Madera punctuated his attempted comeback by out landing Resendiz 15 to 8 in power punches in the final frame. Despite the late onslaught, Resendiz was able to hold on and earn the victory after one judge scored the fight 77-75 for Madera, but was overruled by scores of 78-74 and 77-75 in favor of Resendiz.
Additional action saw Cameron Rivera (9-6-3, 6 KOs) awarded a narrow unanimous decision over Burley Brooks (6-2, 5 KOs) after their six-round super middleweight bout.
Brooks was given a point deduction in the final round due to low blows that proved costly for the 25-year-old. It proved the difference in the final outcome, with two judges scoring the bout 57-56 for Rivera, and the third seeing it 58-55. Brooks held a 105 to 92 edge in punches landed and 380 to 282 advantage in punches thrown
A battle of super lightweights saw Mexico’s Jesus Silveyra (9-6-2, 3 KOs) win a unanimous decision over Amon Rashidi (8-2-1, 6 KOs) in an action-packed eight-round affair.
Sylveyra bloodied Rashidi’s nose in the early rounds and rode that momentum to a 115-106 advantage in punches landed, while throwing 463 punches to Rashidi’s 383. Rashidi stunned Selveyra with a massive left hook in round seven and had him hurt, but was unable to score a knockdown before the round ended.
Silveyra recovered in the eighth and final round to clinch the unanimous decision with scores of 78-74 and 79-73 twice.
In a super welterweight bout, Travon Marshall (1-0, 1 KO) scored an impressive first round knockout victory over Christian Marron (0-2) 33 seconds into their fight. The 20-year-old Marshall delivered a picture-perfect right hook to the hard-charging Marron’s body, flooring the 31-year-old, who was unable to beat the count.
In the opening bout on FS1, Ezequiel Flores (1-0) won a unanimous decision over Juan Muro (0-1) after four rounds of super bantamweight action. Flores ran into trouble in round two when Muro landed a counter left hand that sent Flores to the canvas. Flores was able to rise to his feet and rally to win the final two rounds to earn the unanimous decision by the score of 38-37 from all three judges.