FIGHT WEEK
Middleweight champ Savannah Marshall will face Femke Hermans in a prelude to a showdown with Claressa Shields. Also, Sandor Martin will make his return.
Sandor Martin (39-2, 13 KOs) vs. Jose Felix (39-5-1, 30 KOs)
- When: Friday, April 1
- Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Palau Olimpic Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain
- TV/Stream: DAZN
- Division: Junior welterweight (140 pounds)
- Rounds: 10
- At stake: No major titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Samuel Carmona vs. Joel Cordova, junior bantamweights; Jorgelina Guanini vs. Stevi Levy, junior featherweights
- Prediction: Martin UD
- Background: Martin took a giant step forward in his career when he defeated four-division titleholder Mikey Garcia by a majority decision in a 10-round bout fought at a catch weight of 145 ponds this past October in Fresno, California, Martin’s first fight outside of Europe. The Spaniard returns to his hometown to face solid, but limited Jose Felix on Friday. Martin, a slick southpaw, has won 10 consecutive fights since he lost a unanimous decision to capable Anthony Yigit in 2017. None was close to the magnitude of the Garcia fight, in which Martin used his skills and athleticism to outbox one of the more respected fighters in the world even though he was fighting above his natural weight. He won by scores of 97-93, 97-93 and 95-95, the last of which didn’t reflect what happened in the ring. Still, only the WBO sees fit to rank Martin (at No. 4) at junior welterweight. Of course, Felix is a step down from Garcia. The Mexican, who once fought for an interim world title, is only 4-4 in his last eight fights. That includes a unanimous-decision loss to Tyrone McKenna this past August in Northern Ireland, a fight in which both fighters went down. Felix has been off his feet on many occasions, including five times in a loss to Jonathan Maicelo in 2017. He also was stopped in three rounds by countryman Isaac Cruz in 2018. Felix’s best hope in this fight is his punching power.
Savannah Marshall (11-0, 9 KOs) vs. Femke Hermans (12-3, 5 KOs)
- When: Saturday, April 2
- Time: 3 p.m. ET / noon PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Utilita Arena, Newcastle, England
- TV/Stream: No TV in U.S. (Sky Sports in U.K.)
- Division: Middleweight (160 pounds)
- Rounds: 10
- At stake: Marshall’s WBO title
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Florian Marku vs. Chris Jenkins, welterweights; Nathan Gorman vs. Scott Alexander, heavyweights
- Prediction: Marshall UD
- Background: For Marshall, this fight probably is a prelude to a unification showdown with three-belt titleholder Claressa Shields. The Newcastle-area fighter won the vacant WBO 160-pound title by stopping Hannah Rankin in October 2020 and has successfully defended twice, knocking out both Maria Lindberg in April of last year and Lolita Muzeya in October. The two-time Olympian has seven consecutive stoppages, which is unusual because of the two-minute rounds in women’s boxing. If she wins on Saturday, she and Shields are expected to fight one another before the end of the year. Marshall defeated a young Shields in the 2012 World Championships, the American’s only setback as an amateur or pro. The two exchanged words after Shield’s unanimous-decision victory over Emz Kozin on Feb. 5. Hermans had a short reign as a super middleweight titleholder but has not fared as well at middleweight, including wide-decision losses against Alicia Napoleon Espinosa and Shields in title fights. The Belgian fighter has won her last three bouts, including a third-round knockout of novice Lili Jumali last July in Brussels.