Gary Allen Russell, Jr. vs. Francisco Martínez Sánchez

Co-feature to Wilder vs. Breazeale on Saturday @ Barclays, airing live on Showtime. WBC featherweight title at stake, 4th defense of Russell. Martínez is ranked #3 by the WBC.

My question is...why, doe? I'm not even being sarcastic. That "why" has twofold meaning: why is GRJ cherry-picking such a mismatch for his fourth title defense (I understand he's coming off a legit challenger in Jo-Jo Díaz, but that was on the heels of the so-so Escandón and garbage Hyland...) and why the heck is Kiko still rated that highly? I love the ornery, boiled-leather Spaniard but this is a "what have you done for me lately" sport, and the only thing Martínez has done of late is draw with inexperienced countryman Marc Vidal in a failed attempt to wrest away his EBU title, and then outpoint him in the rematch to win it. Before that, he was on a 3-2-1 run with all three victories (and the draw) against tomato cans, getting outclassed & destroyed by LSC and coming up short (officially, albeit somewhat controversially) against British feather-fist Josh Warrington.

Like, dude, you held Vasyl Lomachenko to a MD in your only pro defeat. You can do better than you've been (outside Jo-Jo) in terms of competition, especially for a world championship reign. Carl Frampton's sloppy-seconds, really?

I fail to see a realistic path to victory for Kiko unless the slick and hyper-quick American southpaw injures himself.

 

I honestly consider this more pointless matchmaking than even the main event. Russell's chin >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Wilder's, p4p - and while Martínez is a bigger puncher than Breazeale p4p, I wouldn't say by quite as many >'s.

 

I had it very wide for Loma but many of those rounds were close and it stands as his third hardest night in the pros (after Siri, of course, and Linares). Russell was more competitive than Pedraza.

 

Thing is, Kiko is tough enough that he'll last at least 6-7 rounds even if GRJ is landing at like 90% (which he will be), meaning this won't be over with merciful quickness, but instead will just prolong things so we have to wait until midnight EST, all for a stupid, long overdue Wilder grudge match that probably won't even see him get exposed, since Breezy isn't that good.

 

Odds:

Russell 1/25
Martínez 11/1
Draw 33/1
Over 9.5 rounds 6/5
Under 9.5 rounds 8/13

 

...or Wayans siblings... (gotta show love for the sistahs in this post-feminism world!! )

 

I had it that wide, personally, but many of those rounds were close, I can see having a narrower card. Now, can I see a draw? No, but...