Martin and Cruz Shine on Saturday! 135 Even More Loaded
The lightweight division is absolutely on fire. Last week Floyd "Kid Austin" Schofield established himself as a legit 135-pounder that everyone thinks will beat Jo Jo Diaz later this year. This week it was Frank Martin and the professional debut of Andy Cruz, one of the best amateurs of all time and Olympic Gold medalist.
Cruz made his much anticipated pro debut in a 10-round affair (hard to believe the Michigan Athletic Commission would approve that) but he looked exceptionally sharp, and all the skills that made him an all-time great Olympian were clearly on display on Saturday's co-main event in Detroit, Michigan as he took on rugged veteran Juan Carlos Burgos from Mexico. Cruz used the jab early to keep Burgos at bay and would follow up with the right hands. Burgos seemed more focused on avoiding the jab of the Cuban than he was firing off combos. As the fight progressed, the maturity and ring IQ of Cruz became evident as he used the jab to set up the right hand from a barrage of angels that Burgos, a veteran of world title fights and 45 pro scraps, had no chance of figuring out. The two-punch combinations became three and four pieces in the later rounds as the rookie looked like he could go forever. After Burgos landed way low late in the sixth, the Cuban seemed to take note and started focusing downstairs as well. The final few rounds were all the same. It was Cruz firing off a jab and then mixing up head and body shots. He never picked up the pace and never forced the action and rolled to a wide UD by scores of 100-90X2, and somehow the third judge, Gerard White, scored the two rounds for the outmanned Mexican, 98-92, to move his record to 1-0 (0).
In the main event in Las Vegas, Frank Martin got quite a scare from a harder-than-expected scrap with Artem Harutyunyan, originally from Yerevan, Armenia. Martin, coming off a career-changing performance against Michel Rivera, this was not that type of performance as the herky-jerky unorthodox movement of Harutyunyan seemed to stump Martin and cause him to shell up at times and at other times have Martin completely frustrated. Harutyunyan, took a wide lead on the card of most spectators, but Martin got going in the sixth at around the midway mark of that round Martin seemed to figure some things out and let his hands go. The American southpaw scored with a right hook and wobbled the Armenian. Martin kept on a wounded Harutyunyan, who was covering up. Martin stayed on him, attacking the body and staggering Harutyunyan up with straight lefts to the head. However, the rally was short-lived, and Martin continued to keep his hands in his pockets as Harutyunyan seized control of the fight with his movement and his jab. Seemingly the Armenain taking the seventh and eighth and was off to a good start in the ninth before Martin rallied late. Martin sustained the rally this time and had his man wounded in the 10th, stunned and nearly sown in the 11th, and then forced to a knee in the 12th. The story of the fight was clear when Martin let his hands go, he dominated! When he didn't, he lost rounds. The only question was, who would the judges favor? They decided unanimously for Martin by scores of 114-113 and 115-112 X2. Moving the record to 18-0 (12).
