Ricky Burns Upsets Roman Martinez
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 09.04.2010
Martinez "burned" in Scotland.
Burns and Martinez gave it their all
In a slugfest in Scotland, Ricky Burns (29-2, 7 KOs) pulled off an upset by dethroning WBO junior lightweight titlist Roman Martinez (24-1-1, 15 KOs) in front of a hot crowd at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.
It looked like it would be an early night in the first round as a close round suddenly took a turn when Martinez landed a straight right hand that sent Burns to the canvas. He didn't appear particularly hurt and fought gamely from that point on.
After another close second round, Burns came on strong in the third, rocking Martinez with punishing uppercuts that seemed to have him in trouble.
The two would continue to let their hands go in the fifth as both fighters had each other hurt from uppercuts. Martinez finally went back to boxing and started out-boxing Burns but the Scottish fighter wouldn't be denied, taking advantage of a tired Martinez in the final two rounds to seemingly pull closer on the cards.
In the end, Burns took home a unanimous decision with scores of 115-112, 115-112 and 115-113
In a very exciting fight, Scottish hero Ricky Burns (29-2, 7 KOs) shockingly dethroned previously unbeaten WBO super featherweight champion Roman Martinez (24-1-1, 15 KOs) on Saturday night at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland. Martinez floored Burns in round one with a cracking right hand, but Burns was very game, hurting Martinez with an uppercut in round three. Wild five round with both fighters rocking each other. Martinez wobbled back to his corner. It was Burns that was hurt again in round seven. Martinez continued to land bombs over the next few rounds. Burns came on strong in the twelfth staggering Martinez. Scores were 115-112, 115-112, 115-113, while I had it 114-113 for Martinez.
It was a brutal clash that could have gone either way and will likely garner some Fight of the Year mentions alongside last week's junior flyweight bout between Ivan Calderon and Giovanni Segura.
