Julio Cesar Martinez rallied to defeat Samuel Carmona by a majority decision to retain his flyweight title on the Juan Francisco Estrada-Roman Gonzalez fight Saturday in Glendale, Arizona.
Two judges scored it for the champion, 117-111 and 116-112. The third had it even, 114-114.
Carmona (8-1, 4 KOs) got off to a strong start, sticking and moving his way to take an early lead on the cards and frustrate the Mexican champion in the 2016 Olympian’s first title challenge.
However, Carmona, who fights from an orthodox stance, evidently injured his right hand around the fourth or fifth round. He then became a one-handed fighter who ran more than he fought, which opened the door for Martinez (19-2, 14 KOs) to take control of the fight.
Martinez had trouble landing punches against the elusive Spaniard even after the injury because of Carmona’s movement but the Mexican did more than his opponent the rest of the way.
Carmona decided to stand his ground a bit more down the stretch, which resulted in competitive rounds. However, he evidently lost too much ground in the middle of the fight.
Martinez was making the fifth defense of the WBC belt.
