All that is left for Julio Cesar Martinez is to make his way to the ring.
The reigning WBC flyweight champ is set for the third defense of his title versus countryman Joel Cordova. Both boxers made weight for their scheduled 12-round main event, which airs live Saturday evening on DAZN from Arena Alcalde in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Martinez (17-1, 13KOs) and Cordova (13-4-2, 3KOs) both weighed in right at the 112-pound divisional limit.
The fight headlines the first show of a Mexico-based fight series presented by Matchroom Boxing and Canelo Promotions.
It also represents the first of the year for Martinez, the hard-hitting champ from Mexico City who has suffered postponements in three of his last four scheduled starts. Two attempts to face McWilliams Arroyo were scrapped, first due to illness and then due to an aggravated injury, the latter coming just two days prior to their canceled February 27 bout.
Martinez was also forced to bow out of a December 19 title defense versus former strawweight titlist Francisco 'Chihuas' Rodriguez due to an untimely illness.
All told, Martinez has not fought since a second-round knockout of Moises Calleros last October 23 in his Mexico City hometown. He has reigned as WBC champ since a ninth-round stoppage of former champ Cristofer Rosales in their December 2019 vacant title fight.
Cordova steps well up in competition entering his first career title fight. The 26-year-old is riding a 10-fight unbeaten streak, including a first-round knockout this past January 22 in Tijuana.
The evening’s chief support pits unbeaten junior flyweight Daniel Matellon versus former strawweight titlist Jose Argumedo in an interim WBA junior flyweight title fight.
Matellon (11-0-2, 6KOs)— a supremely skilled talent from Panama City, Panama by way of Havana, Cuba—weighed pounds. The 33-year-old fights for the first time since a 12-round decision win over Erick Omar Lopez to claim the interim WBA belt last February in Panama City.
Argumedo (24-4-1, 15KOs) also weighed 107 ½ pounds in his bid to become a two-division titlist. The 32-year-old from Tepic, Mexico has won four straight since losing his IBF strawweight title to the excellent Hiroto Kyoguchi—now the reigning WBA junior flyweight champ—in July 2017.
In the opening bout of the televised tripleheader on the main card, veteran spoiler Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela (23-2-1, 13KOs) looks to extend his current 21-fight unbeaten streak as he faces Juan Ocura. Both boxers weighed 139 pounds (announced at 63 kilograms) for their scheduled 10-round junior welterweight contest.
Valenzuela enters on the heels of a ten-round majority decision win over Robbie Davies this past February 20 on the road at Wembley’s SSE Arena in London.
Below are the weights for the remaining undercard bouts.
Christian Alan Gomez (20-2-1, 18KOs), Guadalajara, 147 pounds vs. Jorge Perez (13-0, 5KOs), Tlalnepantla, Mexico, 147 pounds—8 rounds, welterweight
Diego Pacheco (11-0, 8KOs), South Central Los Angeles, 167½ pounds vs. Jesus Moroyoqui (7-0-1, 4KOs), Navojoa, Mexico, 167½ pounds—8 rounds, super middleweight.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox