By Edward Chaykovsky
IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21KOs) is hoping to eventually have a unification with WBO/WBA/IBO champion Tyson Fury (25-0, 18KOs).
Both boxers have very important bouts coming up in the near future.
Martin will make the first defense of his world title on April 9th, when he steps in the ring with Olympic gold medal winner Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15KOs) at an already sold out O2 Arena in London. Fury has a rematch coming up with Wladimir Klitschko in the coming months.
Fury was ringside at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn last month and watched Martin score a third round TKO over Czar Glazkov to capture the vacant IBF title. Fury held the title for a few weeks before he was stripped for being unable to make a mandatory defense against Glazkov.
After winning the title, Martin was personally congratulated by Fury.
"He just said: 'You did great man, good job', Martin told Sky Sports. "Real recognise real. He knows what I'm about, I know what he's about. There is a handful of great fighters in every era. We are that bunch. In order to be considered a great champion, you've got to have great opponents, so that's where they come into play."
"I wasn't surprised [at the first win over Klitschko]. You can't dodge father time. Klitschko is a lot older now. He's still a good fighter, I'll always give him that. He was a great fighter in his era. When he was in his prime, he was awesome. But we're the young lions of the sport. You can't do it forever, so that's where Tyson Fury came into play and he handled his business. I take my hat off to that man for handling his business and he's going to do the same when they fight again, because like I said, you can't beat it."
