This isn't the 1950's in the Bronx, and Hearn isn't a Mafioso. With a 6mil payday and a lot more to come, Martin could afford good security. I think Martin was happy to get all that money, didn't have high hopes for his chances, felt AJ's power and then gave up. Nothing more nefarious than that.
Martin could of gotten up but he simply chose not to. He realised he was outgunned and over matched and made the smarter choice to stay down. If he was paid to take a dive he could of at least made a better job of it and pretended he was more hurt than he was. He smiled when dropped and looked at the ref, if it was a dive it was the worst acting job ever and he wanted to be an actor after he retires. While he could of gotten an easy defence like Wilder there is no guarantee he would of even made as much as Wilder. Glazkov/Martin saw a combined purse of $774K with Martin getting just $250K, while Wilder/Stiverne had a combined purse of $1.91 million with Wilder getting $1 million and Stiverne/Arreola saw a combined purse of $1.1 million. It's pretty clear Martin was a smaller draw than Wilder being a complete unknown by most before his shot against Glazkov. I have doubts Martin would have made $1 million for an easy defence let alone $1.5 million like Wilder does now. In that scenario Martin would need 6-7 defences to make what he made against Joshua, does anyone think he could have kept the title for that long? I for one don't think so. So no it wasn't a dive in regards to him being paid off, but he clearly showed a lack of heart as well as skill by quitting when he could of kept going. He gave up his title far too easily.
Explain to me how Martin was ranked and got a title shot in the first place. There appears to be a set up for Martin after Fury was stripped for BS reasons, and a cashout. Follow the money. Joshua is worth a lot of it in the UK...$$$
I wouldn't doubt it in the least, the Gavern fight looked fixed as hell as well. Just look at his post fight interview, he seemed elated after the loss.
I don't think it was fixed, everything has been falling in place for this kind of situation - Martin was relatively unknown until Fury was stripped of the IBF title, Teper fell from grace etc... he suddenly was thrown from another small name on a big list onto being a face on a title fight poster. Fortunately against Glazkov he ended up with an easier night both in terms of audience and in terms of rounds than he should have, but the trick is that if everything goes "right" you can end up in a position you aren't ready for and you either adapt before it catches up, or it catches up and you are exposed. I think it's the latter.... and by exposed I'm not talking (just) boxing ability, he was very clearly rattled leading up to and PARTICULARLY at the fight. He said otherwise but he really looked like he had bitten off more than he can chew. Remember, this dude is just another person. ALL of these guys are just people.
FFS, Martin quit because he was so outclassed. Yes he could of got up, but his heart didn't want to. Not fishy, he just knew how outgunned he was. Why fix it when Joshua was clearly on another level?
Nothing shady at all, Joshua is on a completely different level to Martin. Even Whyte would KO Martin in a few rounds.