Father knows best

Fernando Martinez was the seventh-born of 12 brothers growing up in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Coaxed by their father, Abell, Martinez first entered a boxing gym at age six, later beginning his amateur career at age 11.

Martinez's regimen began with breakfast, a 90-minute workout, lunch and a nap followed by a two-hour workout. Next was a snack and then dinner before going to bed. 

That was Martinez's routine six days a week, leading to a successful amateur career.

“Dad was a big fan of boxing, everyone in my family loved boxing," Martinez said. "We watched boxing all the time. We watched [Mike] Tyson and wanted to be like him."

A lifelong boxing fan, Abel Martinez died in 2016 several months prior to  Fernando's representation of Argentina in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Abel's death sent Fernando into a downward spiral of depression and alcohol abuse for a short period of time, but he rebounded to participate on the Condors' boxing team, the Argentine franchise which competed in the AIBA's World Boxing Series. 

“The pose I do after the fight is because I have my mom and my dad tattooed on each arm,” said Martinez, who bends his knees and displays each of his forearms after his bouts. “I want the world to see them. Everything I do is for them.”

‘A dream come true’

Martínez’s professional debut was a fourth-round stoppage of Juan Ignacio Haran in August 2017, and preceded his four-round unanimous decision over Santiago Jesus Perotti that December. 

“The Puma” stopped all four opponents in 2018. Martinez went 4-0 (2 KOs) in 2019, comprising six- and 10-round unanimous decisions over Abel Liandro Silva in January and June, and seventh- and 11th-round knockouts of Carlos Ariel Farias (March) and southpaw Athenkosi Dumezweni (December).

In victory over Dumezweni, Martinez earned the WBC’s silver super flyweight crown while fighting in East London—outside of Argentina for the first time in his career. Martinez improved to 11-0 (7 KOs) with a triumph that was considered an upset of a fighter who entered at 12-2 (8 KOs). 

Martinez won once each in 2020 and 2021, earning a split-decision over Angel Nicolas Aquino in December of the former and scoring a fourth-round TKO of Gonzalo Garcia Duran at The Palm in Dubai in August of the latter. 

That set up Martinez’s biggest career victory. On February 26, 2022, he dethroned long-reigning Filipino IBF 115-pound world Jerwin Ancajas in dominant fashion, becoming the new champion by unanimous decision (117-111, 118-110 twice).

Ancajas was attempting to make the 10th defense of his title.  

“It’s very emotional for me. My mother, my kids, my father. There is so much I’m emotional about right now,” said Martinez, who was making his U.S. debut at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

“I’m at a loss for words. This is a dream come true. I made my dad’s dream come true. He’s not here tonight, but he always said I’d be standing here one day. And now I’ll be able to buy my mom a house.”

With his promoter and Argentine former world champion, Marcos Maidana, at ringside, Martinez out-landed Ancajas by more than 2-to-1 in both overall punches (427-to-192) and power shots (421-to-170). Both the 427 and 421 punches are a division record.

“I haven’t fallen to earth yet. This has been my dream since I was 11 years old,” Martinez said. “Before the fight, I would ask myself what it would be like to bring the belt home to my mom in Argentina. I made that dream come true.”

Martinez and Ancajas would meet again Saturday, October 8, on a SHOWTIME card from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The result was the same as Martinez retained his IBF Junior Bantamweight World Championship with a hard-fought, 12-round unanimous decision over Ancajas.
 
“This was about validating the first fight,” said Martinez. “I trained very hard for this fight. I have a lot of people to thank, but most importantly this is for my dad up in heaven. It’s definitely harder to maintain the hunger and retain the title, but now we’re going after ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez and everyone else in the division who’s in my way.”

The fight was competitive early but Martinez rode an impressive 38% connect rate on power punches to pull away in the fight and snuff out any hope of an Ancajas comeback on the cards or via KO. After 12 rounds of lively action, Martinez earned the decision on all three cards, with tallies of 119-109 and 118-110 twice.
 
“My record shows that I’m a champion but it doesn’t show the intensity that I have in my fights,” said Martinez. “Now I can buy the house that my mother needs.”

On June 24, 2023, Martinez successfully defended his title with an 11th-round TKO win over Jade Bornea at The Armory in Minneapolis. 

“I said before the fight that the tougher, stronger fighter was going to win and that was me,” said Martinez.

Martinez used an aggressive, blitzing style to batter the Filipino challenger on his way to his second successful world title defense. A steady diet of hooks caused a large welt to form on Bornea’s left cheek early in the fight, with the accumulation of punches eventually causing Bornea to bleed badly from his right ear.

“I definitely saw the injury in the ear,” said Martinez. “The inflammation was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I hit him with a left and it popped, exploded. I even told the referee to be cautious, I think he’s really hurt. That’s when I just kept going at the ear and trying to finish this fight.”