Steve Martinez Eyes Big 2016 After Melendez Knockout Win

By Jake Donovan

Steve Martinez knew what was required of him upon his ring return following a year-long break. The Bronx-based Nuyorican went from a Showtime-televised appearance 12 months ago to the opening bout of a seven-fight card last weekend at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York.

His super welterweight battle with Jorge Melendez was just one of two bouts on the card that didn’t garner TV time –Luis Ortiz’ 7th round knockout of Bryant Jennings headlined an HBO Boxing After Dark doubleheader, while three more fights aired via same-day tape day on HBO Latino. He could have enjoyed a better fate, but the path he chose led to audition status rather than showcase.

“Being out for 12 months, that’s on me 100%,” Martinez (16-2, 13KOs) admitted to BoxingScene.com. “I had surgery after my fight with Chris Pearson (Martinez dropped a 10-round decision in their Shobox clash last December) and the rest was just me being immature – I wanted to be busy, but I didn’t get myself in the right shape.

“We got back in the gym in August for this fight, which was supposed to be in October but moved to this show. We made sure to be ready for this fight and the end result showed it.”

While the first bout of the night on Saturday, Martinez held the distinction of owning the evening’s lone knockout after having dropped and stopped Melendez (29-6, 27KOs) in two rounds. Five more bouts followed, all going the distance before Ortiz ended the evening with an emphatic knockout to announce his arrival as a major player in the heavyweight division.

Martinez’ win didn’t quite carry that impact. If anything, it was a must-win situation in a once-promising career that hit hard – but not insurmountable – times. To his credit, the 25-year old prospect recognized what went wrong and ultimately provided an outcome that pleased his team.

“Steve looked spectacular,” insists Dmitriy Salita, a former super lightweight contender and now an active promoter in the New York City region, with Martinez among his chief clients. “His training regimen with his head trainer Marcos Suarez and conditioning coach Dave "Scooter" Honig really paid off. Steve was extremely sharp in his offense and defense.”

On this particular evening, it merely took offense to get the job done. Melendez was once a promising prospect on the rise, but has fallen on hard times. Still, a measurement of what Martinez was able to accomplish comes in his taking out the Puerto Rican boxer quicker than anyone before him.

Feared middleweight prospect Ievgen Khytrov needed eight rounds to get the job done in March, while Martinez got the job done in less than six minutes.

“It definitely gave me confidence,” Martinez said of the win. “Dmitriy has always instilled in me in staying in touch and assuring everything will work out… but it’s something I needed in the ring to know that I have a bright future ahead. Melendez is no slouch, so I knew I had to be at my best. Hopefully this win helps open up some doors in 2016.”

Added Salita: “Next year, Steve will make some real noise. He wants to fight the best and cement his place as one of the baddest fighters in his weight.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox