No risk, no reward?
Lightweight contender Frank Martin knows it’s a gamble fighting fellow rising star Michel Rivera in a title eliminator Saturday at Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Showtime). The winner could get a title shot within a fight or two. The loser will have to rebuild.
Martin is willing to roll the dice because he believes in himself.
“This is the fight that’s going to get me to the next level,” he told Boxing Junkie. “… Once they told me it was a title eliminator, I was all in. I know this is a fight that’s [early] to take right now in both of our careers. A lot of guys close to the No. 1 spot wouldn’t have taken it.
“If that’s what it takes to get to the next level, I had to take it. It’s just one of those fights you have to bite down and accept and go from there.”
Martin (16-0, 12 KOs) spends a lot of time around two fighters who have made it to the top, Errol Spence Jr. and Jermell Charlo. All three are trained by Derrick James. And Spence is his promoter.
Spence, a unified welterweight titleholder, has been at Martin’s side every step of his current journey, which has been invaluable for a young boxer whose most important fights are around the corner. They train together in Dallas.
“[Spence] keeps me motivated,” Martin said. “He has been helping me out a lot, especially for this fight. He’s been really locked in with me. We go to strength and conditioning together, stay together at the Airbnb, eat the same things, work out at the same time.
“He’s worked with me a lot, helping me, pushing me.”
Martin. 27, is confident he’ll end up where Spence is now, on pound-for-pound lists. The next step is a victory over Rivera, who Martin respects but believes is inferior to him in every aspect of the game.
The fight is being billed as a WBA title eliminator, meaning the winner will be in line to face the feared Gervonta Davis, who owns the sanctioning body’s secondary 135-pound title (which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize).
That’s who Martin wants. And it could happen if Davis defeated Ryan Garcia in a projected showdown next year. Yes, Martin is thinking big.
“Yeah, that’s life changing,” he said. “It’s what I feel I have to do. I have to go in there and fight the superstars to become a superstar. Some superstars don’t have to fight a lot of top guys. I’m not one of them. I’m going to fight superstars to become one.”
Life changing, indeed. Martin is on the threshold of doing special things that could make him a star and earn him a fortune. However, he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself.
It’s one step at a time. And Rivera is the next step. That’s his what he’s focused on at the moment.
“I don’t let these opportunities throw me off track,” he said. “They just keep me more locked in.”