By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Raul “The Cobra” Martinez has come back from his fourth round TKO loss to IBF/IBO flyweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire at the famed Araneta Coliseum in Metro Manila last April 19 to score a fourth round TKO over Jonathan “El Explosivo” Perez in a fight card at the Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas on Sunday, Manila Time.

Martinez who has moved to super flyweight just like Donaire,  caught Perez with some hard shots and the Mexican didn’t come out for the fifth round.

Martinez who is ranked No.3 by the IBF  improved to 25-1 with 15 knockouts while the lanky Perez fell to 15-7 with 12 knockouts. With the win Martinez put himself in line for a title shot against champion Vic Darchinyan of Australia who puts his WBC and WBA super flyweight championship belts on the line against Tomas Rojas on December 12 in California.

Donaire who relinquished his flyweight titles and campaigned in the 115 pound division won the WBA interim title with a unanimous twelve round decision over Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion of Panama who lost his chance on the scales when he failed to make the super flyweight limit at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino last August 15.

Another fighter who saw action in the Philippines last May, Morris “Virus” Chule of Kenya also figured in the Texas fight card but dropped an eight round split decision to 31 year old southpaw Mario Santiago of Puerto Rico.

Chule dropped a controversial ten round decision to Filipino southpaw Czar Amonsot last May 16. With the win, Santiago improved to 21-1 with 14 knockouts while Chule fell to 11-8-2 with 8 knockouts.