In the telecast opener of Adames vs Williams, undefeated 115-pound world champion Fernando Martinez delivered a dominating performance with a gruesome ending.
Defending his IBF super-flyweight title on Showtime, Martinez scored a bruising eleventh-round stoppage over the previously unbeaten Jade Bornea.
Martinez, promoted by fellow Argentine and former two-division champion Marcos Maidana, used an aggressive blitzing style.
“Puma” battered the Filipino challenger on his way to his second successive 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.
In a stark admission, Martinez admitted to seeing the ear explode and warning the referee of his opponent’s injury.
Ear exploded
“I said before the fight that the tougher, stronger fighter would win. That was me,” said Martinez.
“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 hurt. That’s when I kept going at the ear and trying to finish this fight.”
“The first seven rounds were pretty even, but then I had the injury to my ear,” said Bornea. “It’s unfortunate, but it happens. I tried to keep fighting to the end.”
Bornea succeeded in out-landing Martinez with jabs [33-13] and body shots [42-22]. However, Martinez dominated in power punches landed [124-84], including landing 20 power shots in each of the crucial ninth and 10th rounds.
Martinez began to pull away in rounds nine and ten, connecting even more regularly with his power shots.
Bornea offered little return fire despite showing his heart by hanging tough. Early in round eleven, Martinez continued to tee off on Bornea and forced referee Charlie Fitch to call the fight 29 seconds into the round.
IBF title
Eyeing a unification fight in the future, Martinez is putting all his efforts for the rest of the year into getting another one of the world rulers into the ring.
“It’s time. I’m ready to face the other world champions,” said the IBF titleholder Martinez. “We had it evident that we’re better than the number one contender.
“Now it’s time to get the huge fights and show that I belong at the top.”
With the win, Martinez moves to 16-0 with a ninth career knockout.