By Ben Jacobs

Kiko Martinez (35-6, 26 KOs) is giving what most perceive to be one last attempt at recapturing a world title, this time in another weight class.  The Spaniard suffered a devastating second round knockout loss at the hands of Scott Quigg last July, but bounced back on the quiet with three solid victories in less than three months which has helped prepare him for his shot at Leo Santa Cruz (31-0-1, 17 KOs) on February 27 in California.

“I’m training in the Canary Islands in a very peaceful place but I’m here mainly because of the good weather.  It’s the first time I have trained here but on mainland Spain at the moment it is cold,” he said, explaining the change of scenery for his training camp.

It had been reported previously that Martínez would fight for the EBU super bantamweight title but once the opportunity to fight again for a world title belt presented itself, the 29-year-old didn’t hesitate.

“My team asked me what I wanted to do, for me it was an easy decision.  I wanted to fight Leo Santa Cruz, it’s a lot more motivating than fighting for the European title.

“I think Santa Cruz is a great boxer, he has shown that.  He beat Abner Mares who is also a great boxer.  He’s young and coming up and can still improve but with a good strategy and preparation any boxer can be beaten.  I think he still needs to show that he’s one of the elite but he showed that he’s a great boxer.

“It’s my first fight back with Gabriel Sarmiento, the last three fights I was training with an Englishman, called Martin Patrick.  He helps me when I’m in Alicante.  I won my last three fights and he did good work with me.  I think Gaby is the best trainer I could have right now as we have already worked together for various fights in the past.  I think he’s the best I can work with for this hard fight.”

Martínez also believes the change in division will suit him.  In fact, for his last fight, a fourth round stoppage of Miguel González in Barcelona he weighed in at 127lbs.

“At featherweight I can eat more, I don’t have to lose so much weight beforehand.  It was hard to make super bantamweight and it was affecting me in fights.  I feel strong and I have noticed the difference in training.  At super bantamweight I didn’t have a lot of energy in the last couple of weeks of training.  At the same time Santa Cruz comes from bantamweight and I don’t think he will have a big advantage at the weight.  I think he’s a super bantamweight really but he won the title at featherweight.”