Francisco "Kiko" Martínez Sánchez hangs up his gloves
Four-times European and two-weight world champion Kiko retires from the sport
The great banner of Spanish boxing in recent years, Kiko Martínez, announced his goodbye to boxing after a long career as a professional. As an amateur, young Kiko was achieving great feats many years before the world would get to see his talent. He fought in 40 amateur bouts and never lost a single one, with 38 of those victories coming by knockout.
He could have been an Olympian, but Martinez said, "I could have gone to the Olympics – the Spanish amateur boxing association wanted me to sign a four-year contract but I wanted to turn professional."
At the age of 37, he leaves boxing with 44 wins, 12 losses and 31 knockouts.
The Spaniard was a double European champion at two weights and world champion in two categories – super bantamweight and featherweight. He always stood out for being an aggressive boxer and puncher, with a great combat rhythm.
In his career he had great fights against boxers: Carl Frampton, Scott Quig, Leo Santa Cruz, Josh Warrington, Gary Russell Jr., and Kid Galahad.
“I want to announce that it is time to say goodbye to boxing and leave healthy from this beautiful sport that I love so much,” Kiko said on his social media.
BBN would like to express their thanks to Kiko for many years of service to the sport of boxing and wish all the very best in retirement.
Roll of Honour
European-EU super-bantamweight title
2x European super-bantamweight title
WBO Latino interim super-bantamweight title
WBC Latino super-bantamweight title
IBF World super-bantamweight title
2x European featherweight title
IBF World featherweight title
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