What Next For Carl Frampton And Kiko Martinez?

It has now been more than a week since a short right hand from Belfast’s undefeated Commonwealth champion Carl Frampton found it’s mark on the Spainiard Kiko Martinez.

The shot scrambling the senses of the 26 year old Alicantian to the extent it forced Finnish referee Ansii Perajoki to a halt to Martinez’s second defence of his European Super Bantamweight title in front of a partisan crowd at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

This defeat was the third time that Martinez has lost in his 30 fight professional career, all of which have been against British fighters. His first two losses were both against Leicester’s boxing binman, Rendall Monroe, in 2008 and 2009.

However, this loss for “La Sensacion” was most devastating for the Spainard, while further raising the stock of 25 year old Belfast resident Frampton, who is managed by former World Featherweight champion Barry McGuigan and trained by McGuigan’s son Shane as one of the brightest talents coming out of these shores today.

This victory for Frampton stoked further public interest for an all-British showdown against Manchester’s Scott Quigg. who currently holds the Lonsdale belt in the 8 stone 10 lbs division and was an interested spectator ringside. Quigg, like Frampton, would like a face off between the two best super bantams in the UK.

But Frampton’s promoter Eddie Hearn has other ideas and is targeting a world title shot for Frampton as a mandatory challenger for the winner of Mexico’s Alejandro Lopez and the Colombian, Jonathan Romero, who meet for the IBF crown in Tijuana, the fight capital of Mexican boxing.

Hearn has plans to lobby the IBF, Frampton currently holds their Intercontinental trinket, for a final eliminator to take place on or around the 11th May.

Frampton’s victory helps get British boxing off to a great start for the 2013 calendar year but also comes at a time when the Super-Bantamweight class, as a whole, is starting to heat up.

Some very interesting match-ups are on the horizon as Flippino star Nonito Donaire, fresh from his nine round dismantling of Japan’s Toshiaki Nishioka, facing Guillermo Rigondeaux, the former Cuban amateur star and one of the greatest amateur fighters of all time, in a WBO and WBA unification match up.

This bout pits Donaire’s power against the great technical ability and ring craftsman of the 31 year old Cuban while former Super-Flyweight Cristian Mijares faces off against fellow Mexican Victor Terrazas.

These fighters could all be future targets for the popular and well schooled Frampton, who displayed terrific footwork, ripping body punching and good angles against the tough and durable Martinez

Martinez kept pressing and forced Frampton to regularly box off the back foot, occasionally catching Frampton with his hands down to see where Martinez was before launching his own offensive.

It was a great game plan that Frampton executed to avoid being dragged into a tear up with Martinez, which at times made the fight a difficult one to score, not just for the three judges ringside but for spectators too, both at the Arena and on Sky television.

However, one short right hand took the judges out of equation and crowned a new champion before sending Irish eyes a smiling into the cold Belfast night.

For Martinez, at 26 years of age, there is still time for him to come around again at European level and perhaps even world level.

But, for Frampton, more glory awaits.