Who is Kiko Martinez?
Facts you need to know about Kiko
Ahead of Kid Galahad's (28-1, 17KOs) maiden IBF featherweight world title defence to challenger Kiko Martinez (42-10-2, 29KOs) on November 13 in Sheffield Arena, BBN decided to find out as many interesting facts about the visiting fighter below:
The 35-year-old Spaniard was born on March 7, 1986, in Elche and raised in Alicante, and still lives in the same region in a small town called Torrellano (near Benidorm).
He began boxing aged 13, alongside playing football, as his boyhood dream was to play in La Liga, but he gave up on this ambition when he was 16 and concentrated fully on boxing thereafter.
According to Kiko, his amateur record was 40-0 with 38 knockouts.
Kiko is managed by former legendary world middleweight champion Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez and trained by his former trainer Gabriel Sarmiento.
The unbeaten amateur said he could have gone to the Olympics but the Spanish amateur boxing association wanted him to sign a four-year contract, which was too long for him because he wanted to turn professional.
His pro debut was on June 11, 2004, against Madrid's David Casero (1-0), at the Plaza de Toros La Cubierta in Leganes, where the then-20-year-old won in the third round of a schedued four. He shared his pro bow on the same bill as legendary two-weight world champion Javier Castillejo (62-8-1, 43KOs). Martinez went on to win his first 11 bouts by knockout within four rounds or sooner.
It was his 12th pro contest where he won his first title, the European Union super-bantameweight title, against Frenchman Salem Bouaita.
He has fought in nine different countries, including Spain; Ireland; England; South Africa; France; Argentina; America; Japan; Northern Ireland. He has previously said that boxing is not very big in Spain and he has to travel abroad for bigger fights.
He is best described as a former world champion and four-time European titlist over two-weights.
His alias is 'La Sensacion', which of course translates to 'The Sensation'.
He has so far competed in three weight divisions from bantamweight to super-featherweight.
Stats
Height: 5" 5'
Reach: 66"
Bouts: 54
Rounds: 320
Wins: 42
KOs: 29
Losses: 10
Draws: 2
Roll of Honour
EBU-EU super-bantamweight title (2006)
European super-bantamweight title (2007)
European super-bantamweight title (2010)
European super-bantamweight title (2011)
WBC Latino super-bantamweight title (2013)
IBF World super-bantamweight title (2013)
European featherweight title (2018)
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