Extra pounds don’t help much when you’re fighting one of the best little boxers in the world.
Flyweight titleholder Julio Cesar Martinez needed less than two rounds to stop an overweight and overmatched Moises Calleros on the Juan Fransisco Estrada-Carlos Cuadras card Friday night in Mexico City.
The official time of the knockout was 2:42 of Round 2.
Calleros, a late replacement as Martinez’s opponent, weighed in at 117.4 pounds – a whopping 5.4 over the limit – but it did him no good in the fight, as the gifted Martinez (17-1, 13 KOs) pounded him from the opening bell.
Martinez landed a perfect left hook-straight right combination that hurt Calleros (33-10-1, 17 KOs) and forced him to touch his glove to the canvas about a minute into the first round.
The champion, explosive as any fighter pound for pound, followed with a number of hard, accurate shots but Calleros survived the round.
Martinez, aggressive but measured, continued to land big shots until he finally hurt Calleros again with about 30 seconds left in Round 2. He followed that with a brutal flurry that prompted referee Cesar Castanon to jump in and stop the fight.
The performance was as spectacular as any in the 25-year-old Mexican’s career and might’ve put the other stars fighting Friday – Estrada, Carlos Cuadras and Roman Gonzalez – on notice.
Martinez said he wants to remain at 112 pounds to unify the titles, targeting fellow beltholders Artem Dalakian and Moruti Mthalane. He then plans to move up in weight and pursue those big-name fighters at 115.
He has proved over and over again that he’d be a threat to anyone.
In other preliminary bouts, 6-foot-4 super middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco (10-0, 9 KOs) of Los Angeles knocked out Juan Antonio Mendez (12-3-2, 10 KOs) of Mexico at 2:02 of the second round of a scheduled six-round bout.
Austin Williams (6-0, 5 KOs), a middleweight prospect from Houston, stopped veteran Esau Herrera (19-12-1, 8 KOs) at 1:36 of Round 5 in a scheduled six-round bout.
And junior lightweight prospect Otha Jones III (5-0-1, 2 KOs) of Toledo, Ohio, drew with Mexican Kevin Montiel Mendoza (6-0-2, 3 KOs) of Mexico in a six-round bout.
The scores were 58-56 for Jones, 58-56 for Mendoza and 57-57.