By Steve Bunce
RECENTLY in Belfast, hundreds filled the banquet suite at the Europa for the Carl Frampton testimonial night.
It was moving, funny, packed and just before it started, with everybody sitting down, Kiko Martinez arrived. It was a good night and a grand entrance by the Spanish boxing icon and horse-loving cowboy.
Frampton and Martinez shared the ring twice and each and every one of their 21 rounds were torrid, bloody and hard. They finished both with the scars, bruises and stitches. Now, they embrace like long-lost friends; it is common in our business for fighters who have shared so much to have that level of respect, but the Frampton-Martinez connection is special.
“He’s the hardest man I ever fought,” said Frampton. “I was always amazed when people thought the rematch would be easy – in the first fight, when he went down, I was praying for him to stay down and not get up and continue fighting.”
Boxing – Kiko Martinez & Carl Frampton Head-to-Head Press Conference – Testbed 1, Battersea – 2/7/14
The first fight in 2013 finished in the ninth round; it was at the Odyssey – one of those nights that people have total recall of – and Frampton won the European super-bantamweight title in one of his favourite rings.
In 2007, Kiko had travelled to the Point in Dublin as a massive underdog to fight for the same title against Bernard Dunne. It was some night from ringside and it was also Dunne’s third defence at the venue. He was a massive star and Kiko, a sixteen-fight unknown from Spain, was an easy touch. The night was packed with Irish boxers; Andy Lee, Brian Magee and Matt Macklin. And then it was Dunne against the Spaniard – the world title was there, just get an easy win.
It lasted just 86 seconds. Dunne was dropped twice and stopped. I can remember the wildest of wild celebrations from Martinez and his team that night. Dunne and a capacity crowd at the Point could only look on in shock and amazement. And silence, I should add. Two years later, Dunne did win a world title, and the Point was a carnival of joy that night.
Martinez, meanwhile, travelled to the Harvey Hadden Sports Centre in Nottingham a few months later and lost a tight decision and his title to Rendall Munroe. That should have probably been the last contact between Martinez and Irish and British boxers. No chance, it was just the remarkable start.
“I think he is the greatest Spanish boxer of all time,” added Frampton. “Just look at what he has done and where he has had to go to get the fights. His record is ridiculous.” Frampton is right, it is ridiculous.
Every word of praise on Friday night was gently translated directly into Martinez’s ear by Rickie Pow, the former pro and now agent and fixer based in Alicante. Martinez smiled and laughed and raised a hand at all the right moments. He is a class act and carries himself with dignity.
After losing to Munroe in 2008, Martinez was back in Dublin for a couple of easy wins and then he lost to Munroe again in Barnsley. In 2010, he won the European title back when he beat Arsen Martirosyan in Dublin. The next year in a Bullring, in Leganes, he stopped Jason Booth. The following year, he had a six-round win in a lounge in Belfast; in 2013 he lost to Frampton. And then his career is truly crazy.
“After I beat him, he went and won the world title on the road,” “continued Frampton. “He went and beat unbeaten Jonathan Romero for the world title in Atlantic City and then defended the title in Japan. I knew he was not coming back to Belfast to lose – he was coming back for revenge.”
On my table, opposite me, Pow kept the commentary going, a steady whisper and Martinez just kept on nodding. Frampton was getting emotional talking about his great rival. There was total silence in the ballroom, by the way, and that is increasingly rare.
The night of the fight at the Titanic with Frampton and Martinez ten years ago was epic. A shortened version of it was shown and it was even better than I remembered. Martinez stood with Frampton at the end of the short film and took the standing ovation. He seemed a bit bewildered by the love in the room for him.
And then, on the stage, Frampton shook his head and laughed. “Kiko was not finished,” he added. And that is an understatement.
Martinez lost to Scott Quigg in an old-fashioned shootout in 2015, then dropped a tight decision to Josh Warrington in Leeds and then in 2021, when it looked like his long, long career was nearly over, he was beaten over twelve rounds at Wembley by Zelfa Barrett. It was Martinez’s 53rd fight, his eighteenth year as a pro, but he was not done and just a few months later he was in another British ring.
Frampton was just smiling. “And then, he came back and knocked out Kid Galahad to win the featherweight world title. It was unbelievable.” The night at the Europa, led by Frampton, was fast becoming a Kiko Martinez tribute night. He certainly deserves one.
Martinez lost the title in a brutal and draining struggle with Warrington in Leeds. It was a savage fight. Later in 2022 Martinez dropped and stopped Jordan Gill. No top-level boxer has ever fought in Britain and Ireland as many times as Kiko Martinez. His fights have left behind a lasting legacy in Britain and Ireland that is perhaps not quite shared by the Spanish.
“It was an honour to share the ring with him,” finished Frampton. It was a privilege to be on his table.
[Very slight amendments made to the original opening of this article due to time sensitivity – Ed]
