Matias brutally takes Hawkins’ O in opener
In a WBA super featherweight eliminator, unbeaten Xavier Martinez (16-0, 11 KOs) scored a twelve round unanimous decision over former WBA interim champion Claudio “The Matrix” Marrero (24-5, 17 KOs) on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Marrero dropped Martinez twice in round eight but couldn’t finish him. Martinez closed stronger to win 115-111, 114-112, 114-112.
“To be honest, it was weird when I got knocked down,” said Martinez. “I just said, ‘Let’s get back up.’ Losing wasn’t on my mind. I just thought I have to get up. I’m not happy I went down but it’s all an experience. A lot of guys wouldn’t have fought Claudio. He was tough. But I rose to the occasion and I proved something to myself.”
“I feel like it was a bad decision,” said Marrero. “I don’t think the judges took into account all the hard work I did in the ring. I wouldn’t do anything different if I fought him again. I would fight the same way. I fought smart and I put pressure on him. He hits hard, but I recovered quickly. I felt like I won the fight.”
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Super lightweight power puncher Subriel Matias (16-1, 16 KOs) was victorious when previously unbeaten Malik “Iceman” Hawkins (18-1, 11 KOs) couldn’t continue after round six. Matias dropped Hawkins in round six. The official time was :01 of round seven. It was the third outing for Matias following his tragic bout with Maxim Dadashev.
“I’ll fight anyone,” said Matias. “Whoever they put in front of me, it doesn’t matter. I want a title eliminator, and then I want to fight for a world title.”
matias is a pure puncher and hurts his opponents whenever he lands a solid punch.once he gets over the tragic affair with the russian boxer lookout.
Nice win for Matias.
Hawkins had no jab, no hand speed, no rhythm, no stinging punch, low/dragging hands, weak legs, bad defense and no stinging combination punching. Matias had no worries about Hawkins’ incoming punches. Thank goodness they stopped the fight because Hawkins was well on his way to receiving serious/life threatening injuries.
This was a prime example of an overhyped fighter (Hawkins), and they should not match him with punchers. Unless they match Hawkins carefully/wisely, I do not believe boxing is for Hawkins.
I have to give Xavier Martinez a lot of credit for battling back after he looked like he was finished in the 8th round. He got caught with a leaping right hook by Marrero for the first knockdown and was put down again when he was trying to gather himself to last the round. Marrero stepped off the gas when he couldn’t finish Martinez in the 8th and was outboxed and outworked the rest of the way.
It was a great win for Martinez. I gave him most of the early rounds until the disasterous 8th round. He never did hurt Marrero, who seemed to be the sharper puncher of the two. Nevertheless, Martinez won by good boxing, patience, calm and consistency. Marrero just didn’t give a consistent effort throughout the fight and lost the decision. It was a well-deserved decision win for Martinez. He now knows that he can come back from adversity to win a tough fight.
Does not deserve Subriel Matias win a single highlight in fightnews ??? Weird. Subriel has gotten a fantastic win against unbeaten Mayweather fighter. Vamos Subriel sigue cerrando bocas !!!!
MARRERO-MARTINEZ, another terrible decision. Martinez was the hometown fighter and got the undeserved nod ( and unanimous). If the bad judging continues boxing will lose its credibility.