Frank Martin moved a step closer to a WBC lightweight world title shot, as he overcame some rocky moments to take a points win over the tough Artem Harutyunyan at Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Both came into this WBC title eliminator unbeaten, with Olympic bronze medallist Martin compiling wins in the USA, and Harutyunyan making his perfect start in his native Germany, but something had to give here.
Harutyunyan (12-1, KO7) began by applying plenty of pressure on Martin, and although Martin (18-0, KO12) wrested back control in rounds two and three, the German fired back in the fourth, connecting to both head and body, and he likely shaded the fifth on work-rate. The visitor looked hurt in the sixth, but rebounded well, enjoying a decent three rounds to put himself right back in the contest going into the championship rounds. This is where Martin shone though, and he made several breakthroughs in rounds ten and eleven with combinations and power punches. With the fight seemingly up for grabs going into the last frame, Martin pulled out a crucial knockdown, and with Harutyunyan fading, multiple shots forced him to take a knee, but he did manage to make the final bell.
Artem forced to a knee!@TheGhost_2016 drops Harutyunyan in the 12th and final round.#MartinHarutyunyan goes to the judges' scorecards pic.twitter.com/ayC3Tszhd7
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) July 16, 2023
Two scores of 115-112, and a third at 114-113 in Martin’s favour declared him the winner in a tough contest.
The undercard was shorn of Nonito Donaire attempting to once again become world champion, as his vacant WBC bantamweight title clash against Alexandro Santiago was pushed back to feature on the upcoming Terence Crawford v Errol Spence Jr bill.
The chief support was provided by welterweight prospect Elvis Rodriguez (15-1-1, KO13), and he dominated and then stopped former WBC super lightweight champion Viktor Postol (31-5, KO12) in the seventh round of their bout set for ten. Rodriguez dropped Postol in the sixth, and he finished the job a round later.
After hurting Viktor Postol in RD6, @ElvisTDK puts him on 🧊 in RD7. #RodriguezPostol pic.twitter.com/1xzv67cbMt
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) July 16, 2023
Also at welterweight, Freudis Rojas (11-0, KO11) stayed perfect, as he also scored a seventh round stoppage, this one coming against Diego Santiago Sanchez (19-3, KO16).
No más! Diego Sanchez’s corner throws in the towel to end the fight in RD7, giving @FreudisRojas him the TKO stoppage. #RojasSanchez pic.twitter.com/gj7Q4apctU
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) July 16, 2023
At super welterweight, Quinton Randall (12-0-1, KO3) remained undefeated, taking an eight round points win against Willie Jones (9-3, KO6), and Justin Cardona (9-1, KO5) forced Angel Barrera (4-2, KO0) to retire after seven rounds of their scheduled eight rounder at lightweight.
Anthony Cuba (6-0-2, KO3) took a six round majority decision win against Angel Rebollar (6-3, KO3), also at lightweight.
