By Keith Idec

Julio Cesar Martinez thought he had ruined what was supposed to be a big night for Charlie Edwards.

The determined Mexican challenger overwhelmed England’s Edwards and appeared to knock him out in the third round Saturday night at O2 Arena in London. What was initially ruled a knockout victory that would’ve won Martinez the WBC flyweight title quickly was changed to a no-contest because Martinez hit Edwards with a left to the body when Edwards already was down.

The ruling enabled Edwards to keep his WBC 112-pound championship on the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Luke Campbell undercard.

Before the result was changed, the 26-year-old Edwards (15-1, 6 KOs, 1 NC) couldn’t get up before referee Mark Lyson counted him out at 1:43 of the third round. The 24-year-old Martinez (14-1, 11 KOs, 1 NC) jumped into his trainer’s arms, yelled and pumped his fists, but his celebration didn’t last long.

The pro-Edwards crowd booed loudly when the replay was shown inside O2 Arena. It clearly showed that Martinez hit Edwards with a vicious body shot when Edwards was on one knee.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said after the fight that the WBC would order an immediate rematch.

With just under two minutes to go in the third round, a relentless Martinez unloaded a flurry of lefts and rights to Edwards’ head and body. Edwards eventually went down to his knees.

Martinez hit him with a left to the body while Edwards was down, but Lyson didn’t see it. He proceeded to count out Edwards, who clearly was hurt even before Martinez fouled him.

Martinez landed back-to-back body shots with just over two minutes to go in the second round. Edwards landed a solid left-right combination in the final minute of the second round.

Martinez landed a four-punch combination to Edwards’ head and body with just under a minute to go in the first round. Edwards and Martinez traded hard shots up top toward the end of the opening round.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.