Kiko Martinez knocks Arsen Martirosyan out and defends EBU super bantamweight gold – Boxing news
Kiko Martinez, the current EBU super bantamweight champion, successfully defended and retained his precious gold against Arsen Martirosyan, by collecting an impressive knockout win in the 12th round of the bout which was held on March 9, 2012.
The ring for the main event bout was stretched at Palais des Sports de Gerland situated in Lyon, Rhone, France and the event was jointly promoted by Francois Garrel of Lyon Boxe and Humbert Furgoni of Federation Francaise de Boxe.
This was not the first time that both men stood against each other in the ring. The duo previously collided in a 12-round bout with the vacant EBU European super bantamweight title up for the grabs. Interestingly in that September 11, 2010 bout, Kiko was
the one who came out victorious by nailing Arsen via unanimous decision.
Before the bout, all the critics predicted that the French Arsen will strive hard to avenge his prior loss. The reason he had the odds somewhat in his favour, was the hometown advantage.
In the former encounter both men fought on a neutral ground that is Ireland but this time it was expected that Arsen might emerge as a victor if he pressurised and intimidated the Spaniard Kiko effectively using the home crowd advantage.
From the very first round, the 34-year-old French placed well-targeted punches that connected every now and then easily piercing Kiko’s weak defence. Martinez did try hard to evade the frequent fists of Arsen but the French was fast and above all Kiko seriously
lacked the defensive aspect.
During the whole bout Kiko kept on taking the advantage of his height and after the passage of the first half, Martinez came forward full throttle. Kiko, widely known as ‘La Sensación’ (the feeling), started pummelling Arsen every now and then taking full
vantage of even the smallest mistake committed by the exhausted Arsen.
The Spanish number one, Martinez, who has collected 18 of his total 25 wins by knockout, is famous for being a knockout specialist. With the beginning of the 12th round, Martirosyan seemed extremely fatigued. Kiko noticed it and went in for the kill. Kiko
threw a left hand that blew Arsen’s mind and flattened him on the ground.
The French successfully stood up breaking the referees 10 count but later he understood that it was a huge mistake since Martinez got mad and battered the defenceless Arsen heavily so much so that the referee eventually intervened and ended the bout.
Kiko not only defended his title but also collected his career’s 25th bout and 19th by knockout. Arsen, on the other hand, has received his career’s fifth defeat and unfortunately the second by the fists of Kiko.
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