Rey vs Ronal
By James Blears
World Boxing Council flyweight champion Julio Cesar “Rey” Martinez (19-2, 14KO) defends his Green and Gold Belt for a sixth time, on this occasion against Panama's Ronal “Gallito” Batista (15-2, 9KO), on the Homecoming Bill of Undisputed super-middleweight champion Saul Canelo Alvarez vs John Ryder at the Akron Stadium, Guadalajara on May 6th.
29-year-old Mexican Julio Cesar was meant to have fought a rematch with Puerto Rico's McWilliams Arroyo. But Interim champion McWilliams didn't recover as quickly as expected from a neck injury which cricked him in November.
Fate dealt a fickle blow to these two, denying them their final hurrah, encore and parting bow. Four times their clashes have been postponed. Illness forced out JC twice and then the mishap of a fractured right hand from a final sparring session. He wanted to go ahead, but the swelling, flared and significantly worsened.
When they did finally clash, both swapped knockdowns. McWilliams felled JC with a left hook in the first, Julio then returned the compliment, but much harder.
It badly stunned McWilliams, but a couple of seconds after he got up, the bell rang, which was sweet music to his ringing ears and an oasis vision of balm to his glassy eyes. Then in the second, an accidental clash of heads resulted in a double cut over McWilliams' right eye, his vision was blurred and a no contest was declared.
Now it's Ronal's turn and it's going to be a significant step up in class for him. His record is 15-2, 9KOs. He's fought most of his fights as a super-flyweight. He lost by TKO in his fourth fight in the fourth round, at the hands of Leosdan Nunez, but that was way back in 2016. More recently he lost a UD to Mikhail Aloyan in Russia in 2019. He was knocked down in round one, but got up to fight on until the final bell. So far, Ronal has fought 17 bouts over 96 rounds. He comes to this fight following a victory over Jose Cordero, who couldn't come out for round four.
Ronal, who debuted as a pro in 2016, is a nicely proportioned fighter, who can throw snappy combinations and heavy body shots. He stays calm and collected under pressure and can box as well as fight. He does tend to get caught with counter left hooks to the head, which is Julio Cesar's favorite and ominously his most formidable blunderbuss.
Ronal sometimes squats to avoid incoming punches. This would be a really serious technical error against short and stocky JC, who is only five feet two inches tall. Ronal is two inches taller. Aged 26, Ronal is two years younger than Julio Cesar, but the older man, has amassed considerably more experience. He's fought 112 rounds, as most of his fights have not gone the distance.
Julio Cesar lost by a SD in his 2015 pro debut to Joaquin Cruz. But then a surge of 14 victories including a rematch victory over Cruz via a MD.
Over enthusiasm and punch momentum in challenging Charlie Edwards for the WBC flyweight title, resulted in a no contest. In round three Charlie went down on to his haunches, following a barrage of body punches from Julio Cesar, who then threw and landed another illegally while he was down. It was subsequently declared a NC by Mauricio Sulaiman. Charlie vacated the title to move up in weight and JC TKO'd former champion Cristofer “The Whip” Rosales of Managua, Nicaragua, for the vacant title. Referee Raul Caiz stopped the fight in the ninth.
Julio Cesar's stock in trade punchline is: “With everything but fear.” He certainly backed this up by audaciously taking on legendary Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, by stepping up a division to super-flyweight, at less than six weeks of notice, after its champion Juan Francisco “Gallo” Estrada had to pull out and temporarily postpone, following a positive Covid test.
Chocolatito, who has won world titles in four weight divisions, gave Julio Cesar a comprehensive UD victory boxing lesson. His chestnut colored gloves seemed glued to JC, like slabs of sticky hot toffee. But despite the Nicaraguan Maestro`s manifestation of machination, the Mexican fighting spirit shone through the icing and glazing. Julio Cesar stubbornly refused to buckle and even though he was outfought, outfoxed and outboxed on that night, he showed splendid and remarkable defiance. He took the stick, stuck to the task and learned from it.
JC's most recent fight was a MD win over Spain's Samuel Carmona, who didn`t want to engage, coyly and nimbly evading for most of the evening. His dance card remained largely unmarked. The champion is not at his best while chasing and charging after a slick boxer. He prefers to slug opponents to a standstill, unloading and inflicting his power. Divorced from that, was like watching a horse and a deer together pulling a carriage. In harness, but NOT in unison, as Svetlana Stalin ruefully reflected about the disastrous marriage of her ill matched parents.
Ronal will never have felt power anything like this. Julio Cesar (19-2, 14 KO`s 2 NC`s) punches way above his weight category. As previously mentioned, he heaves cobblestones, but makes them count. A concrete fact, which constitutes Boulder-dash NOT balderdash!
The secret for success would lie in trying to outbox the champion. Outmaneuver him with ring smarts. Julio Cesar is aiming to unify the flyweight titles, but first and foremost, here and now, he must focus and concentrate on this fight, on this Big Night. Hats off to Ronal for stepping into the championship limelight, trying to emulate compatriot heroes Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran, and of course…”Panama” Al Brown.
Tale of the Tape
JULIO CESAR “Rey” MARTINEZ
WBC Flyweight World Champion / 6th Title Defense
Age: 28
DOB: January 17, 1995
Residence, birthplace: Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Record: 19-2, 2 NC, 14 KOs
Total rounds: 112
World championship fights: 5-0, 2 NC, 3 KOs
Height: 5’2″ – 157cm
Reach: 64″ – 163cm
Stance: Orthodox
Manager, trainer: Eddy Reynoso
RONAL “El Gallito” BATISTA
Age: 26
DOB: December 22, 1996
Residence: Chiriqui, Panama
Birthplace: Veraguas, Panama
Record: 15-2, 9 KOs
Total rounds: 96
Height: 5’4” – 163cm
Stance: Orthodox
Manager: Rigoberto Garibaldi
WBC Top 10 Flyweight World Champions
1. Miguel Canto (Mexico)
2. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (Thailand)
3. Chartchai Chionoi (Thailand)
4. Efren Torres (Mexico)
5. Yuri Arbachakov (Russia)
6. Roman Gonzalez (Nicaragua)
7. Sot Chitalada (Thailand)
8. Akira Yaegashi (Japan)
9. Betulio Gonzalez (Venezuela)
10. Shoji Oguma (Japan)
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