By Jake Donovan

Undefeated super bantamweight prospect Christopher Martin scored his second straight televised win with an eighth round stoppage over Jose Luis Araiza Friday evening at the Four Points Sheraton in San Diego, California.

On the heels of his upset win over Chris Avalos last month on Showtime, Martin returned to his San Diego hometown for yet another tough fight on paper as he transitions from prospect to contender.

Martin was sharp in the opening round of their Telefutura-televised main event, scoring repeatedly with his jab and often following it up with either a right hand upstairs or left hook to the body.

Araiza offered a brief scare in the second, rocking the house fighter with an overhand right and whacking Martin downstairs with his own left hook.

The sequence encouraged Martin to tighten up his defense, but not to where it affected his offensive output. If anything, he was even sharper in the third round, committing more to his jab and right hand, causing Araiza to fight off of his back foot.

A high contact fourth round saw frequent shifts in momentum. Araiza managed to draw Martin into an inside fight, setting him up perfectly for an overhand right that landed on several occasions. Martin never wilted and continued to come back with firepower of his own, but also offered far less lateral movement than had been the case in prior rounds.

Martin turned up the aggression in the second half of the fight, which on paper should have favored his opponent, but instead widened the margin of victory for the undefeated prospect. Araiza had his best moments when landing to the body, but Martin grew progressively stronger with each round.

The seventh was one for the time capsule, with Araiza hitting the deck but coming back to force a crowd-pleasing brawl. Martin scored the first knockdown of the night midway through the round, connecting with a left uppercut followed by a right hand-left hook combination to floor the scrappy Mexican. Araiza was up well before the eight count, and came back with overhand rights to stun Martin, but was drilled with consecutive right hands later in the round.

Martin closed the show strong, scoring his second knockdown of the night, this one good enough to end the fight. A relatively close eighth and final round ended in sudden and dramatic fashion as Martin scored with a perfectly placed hookercut to the midsection, knocking the wind out of Araiza as he was forced to a knee.

Referee Raul Caiz immediately waved off the bout without a count at 2:03 of the final round, with Araiza rising and then once again crumbling to the canvas at the time of the stoppage.

The win continues an impressive stretch for Martin, who improves to 20-0-2 (6KO). Araiza falls to 29-3 (20KO), with all three of his career losses coming inside the distance.

Viewed as the B-side of last month’s Shobox card against the considerably favored Avalos, Martin used the opportunity to catapult his career, enjoying what is developing into a Prospect of the Year-level campaign in 2010. He is 4-0 on the year has now scored stoppages in four of his last six bouts against accelerated competition while developing as a local attraction, playing to the Whale’s Vagina for the sixth time in the past 17 months.

While Martin continues to develop, another prospect saw his career progress momentarily derailed.

Previously unbeaten Luis Grajeda suffered two knockdowns as he was fortunate to escape with an eight round draw against Alan Sanchez in the evening’s chief support bout
In a rare battle of 6’0” welterweights, Grajeda had a difficult time keeping Sanchez at bay, fighting behind a high guard but only offering jabs and slapping right hands. The sequence worked for most of the first half of the fight, save for when he was drilled in the second round for the first knockdown of the night.

It appeared as if it would be the only success of the night to be enjoyed by Sanchez until late in the sixth, when a flush right hand deposited Grajeda on the canvas for the second time of the night. The sequence permanently altered the course of the bout, with Sanchez serving as the aggressor for the remainder of the bout while Grajeda fought like a shook fighter.

Sanchez nearly ended matters late in the eighth and final round, connecting with an overhand right that buckled Grajeda’s knees and drew a rise out of the rabid ballroom crowd. Grajeda managed to cross the finish line, but was clearly worse for wear by night’s end.

Apparently everyone but the three judges picked up on this, as all three ringside officials found five rounds to score in Grajeda’s favor, with the two knockdowns bringing it to a 75-75 score across the board for a rare unanimous draw.

The crowd vehemently booed the final verdict, but Grajeda gladly accepted the nod as well as the cackles as he preserves his undefeated record. The string bean Mexican is now 10-0-1 (7KO), but with a lot of the new penny shine removed from his image.

Sanchez, a crowd favorite at the Four Points, moves to 5-2-1 (2KO) in what nearly served as his second upset win in 2010, having stopped previously unbeaten Alberto Rosales earlier in the year.

The show was presented by Don Chargin Productions.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .