By Terence Dooley (at ringside)
Bernard Dunne had his undefeated record, his EBU Super-bantamweight title and, one must assume, his confidence ripped away from him in 126 sensational seconds at a literally rocking Point theatre in Dublin this Saturday.
Dunne, now 24-1 (14), was ambushed by the hard-hitting Martinez, 17-0 (14), without a meaningful shot being thrown back in anger.
In many ways it was reminiscent of the recent one-round destruction of fellow prospect Reda Zam Zam. Dunne, though, was knowingly taking on one of the stiffer tests in his career thus far and that makes the defeat harder to pin down to complacency or drift on the part of Dunne.
Martinez sucked up the pantomimic pre-fight hostility of the Irish crowd and looked solidly built and compact as he watched Dunne soak in the applause during the introductions.
Once the first bell went Dublin’s number one son came out like a teenage novice. His left hand was hanging low whilst a loose and wide right hand left an inviting target area for the left hook of Kiko.
Dunne set the pace with an early flurry yet the shots seemed to merely buzz around Martinez without troubling him. The Spaniard then fired in a stiff left jab; this immediately signaled that his punches would carry more weight in the fight.
Then came the beginning of the end as a left hook caught Dunne with his chin high and guard low. That shot was well delivered and accurate, the innate power of Martinez kicked into play and Dunne was on the floor quickly and heavily.
The fight was effectively over from this point. Dunne had not been able to keep a tight guard whilst compos mentis therefore, upon rising, he found himself an easy target for the relaxed Kiko.
Kiko flew in; a right hand to the body was followed by a jab to the solar plexus. Dunne could not afford to stand his ground nor could he get his balance under him. An overhand right to the head sent him over against the ropes for the second time in the fight.
The fight was now a done deal. Upon rising Dunne formed a straw man of a guard for Martinez to rip asunder.
Martinez forced Dunne onto the ropes again; a series of blows, culminating in two left hooks, the second of which took Dunne out completely, and a right hand prompted the early stoppage.
Dunne was unsure of what had transpired post-fight and one felt that it will take a long time for him to truly come to grips with the calculated savagery Martinez showed from the off.
Dunne is the blue-eyed boy of Irish boxing, every clean blow he took was one, also, for the Irish boxing scene and one must hope that Dunne can see this fight as a wake-up call.
If he was caught completely cold he needs to, perhaps, acknowledge that the pomp and circumstance prior to his ring entrance and introduction gave him a severe case of overkill as well as overconfidence.
If, as objectively seemed the case, he was simply brushed aside by a powerful hitter who exposed the cracks in his chin Dunne must go back to the gym and work on a tightly sealed defense. However, a style based upon letting lots of shots go indicates that Dunne is going to run the risk of this kind of finish whenever he commits to his attacks.
Martinez, unbeaten both as an amateur and a pro, now has a title to smoke out fearful foes. An immediate rematch with Dunne should be his preferred choice based on the ease of this first win.
Undercard Action:
Saturday also saw Brian Magee, 28-3-1 (20), seemingly out-box Tony Oakey, 24-2-1 (6), only to be denied by the scorecards as a majority draw, two scores of 114-114, was turned in after their British light-heavyweight fight.
It was an historic bout as it was the first to feature a British defence abroad and for the most part it was Magee, hailing from Northern Ireland, who did the scoring work only for a difference of interpretation to cost him the title.
Magee looked solid at the weight and was at careful pains to preserve his fragile chin from the heavier punching of Oakey. Bernard Dunne could learn from this fight.
Little side steps inside, one and two shots then clinch and effective movement throughout from Magee kept Oakey from reaping dividends on his aggression.
Cut in the third, around the right eye, Oakey was all swinging left hooks and missing right hands as Magee boxed like a man unsafe in the knowledge that he has a suspect chin.
The pattern of the fight was simple: Magee would move backwards and score with counters whereas Oakey moved forward and mostly missed with his shots. Magee also threw a number of right hooks to the body from his southpaw stance.
After enduring a relatively torrid final round Magee celebrated like a man who knows he has negated the other guy. It was not to be, though, as only one judge saw him the winner, by 113-116, whereas the two 114-114 cards meant the title stayed with Oakey.
Magee told Boxingscene that he felt he had bossed the fight with his boxing even though it did involve a certain amount of clinching. Brian felt that Oakey had failed to break the pattern of the fight. I had the fight 118-110 and had to scratch my head, yes the rounds were not action-packed with shots but what work was done cleanly belonged to Magee.
Two notable undercard bouts featured two middleweights with Irish connections neither of whom was named Duddy.
Irish Middleweight Champion Matthew Macklin continued his road back from the Jamie Moore loss by scoring a fourth round KO over Darren Rhodes.
Macklin had worked intensely in the dressing room pre-fight whilst also ensuring that, unlike the Moore bout, his energy was not drained by working hard before the first bell had even rang.
Rhodes tried to take advantage of the traditionally slow-starting Macklin only for Matthew to land carefully placed shots to the body and head. A right hook to the body followed by a right uppercut and a left hook took a lot out of Rhodes in round number two.
Rhodes did try and pop off at Macklin inside a la Moore but Rhodes is not Jamie Moore and Macklin finished the fight at 2:29 of round four with an intelligent one-two: a left jab to the body and a right hand over the top.
A dispirited Rhodes failed to beat the count. Macklin is now 19-2 (15) and is showing a lot more maturity in his attacks these days as well as more attentive pace than was once the case.
As one Irish prospect crashed to defeat in the main event another made a rapturous homecoming as US-based Irish middleweight Andy Lee returned to his native shores to a massive welcome and rapturous applause.
Lee, 11-0 (8), is being guided by the legendary trainer Emanuel Steward and, with his rangy style and sharp shots, is a strong replica of the favoured Steward style of fighter.
Lee’s opponent, Ciaran Healey, had talked a good fight but was forced to retire in his corner after four rounds of taking sharp shots to body and head.
A right hook to the body on show as Lee slowly but surely worked Healy over with movement and accurate shots.
Lee paced the fight well then, sensing his movement was arriving, broke Healey down with body and headshots during the last 30 seconds of round number four to force Healey to retire in his corner.
Lee looked good and the fight was mostly an exercise in introducing him to the Irish crowd. The crowd loved him and it must be said he has an easy on the eye style, which reminded this writer of a white, Irish and southpaw Mark Breland. I pointed this out to trainer Manny Steward who confirmed that he has high hopes for Lee.
Steward then wistfully lamented the fact that Breland had never really fulfilled his true potential in the professional ranks. Steward said that the loss to Aaron Davis had been a tough one for Breland to try and come back from. We talked a little about the spindly legs of Breland and how a solid, balanced, base is for important for a boxer and a power puncher alike.
Before leaving Steward said that Lee would prove himself to be a well-balanced fighter over the next few years and one was given the impression that Steward was really enjoying his work with the young Irishman. Lee may be one to watch and could be the man to give Irish boxing a lift following Dunne’s shocking defeat.