SAN ANTONIO – Ricardo Nunez is a harder puncher than Jackson Marinez.
The Panamanian contender has produced 91 percent of his wins by knockout (23-3, 21 KOs). Nunez also has recorded back-to-back knockouts of Alfredo Santiago (14-2, 6 KOs) and Richard Solano (26-3-2, 14 KOs, 1 NC) since Gervonta Davis stopped him in the second round of their WBA 130-pound title fight almost three years ago at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore.
Marinez, meanwhile, hasn’t fought since former IBF lightweight champ Richard Commey (30-4, 27 KOs) knocked him out in the sixth round nearly 17 months ago at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. That long layoff didn’t prevent the Dominican contender from replacing Nunez as Frank Martin’s opponent Saturday night on only eight days’ notice once Nunez reportedly couldn’t obtain a visa to enter the United States to fight Martin.
The unbeaten Martin still considers Marinez more of a challenge than Nunez.
“I feel that Marinez is actually better,” Martin told BoxingScene.com. “I feel that he may be a step above Ricardo. So, I feel like it’s actually a tougher fight compared to Ricardo Nunez. When it comes to styles – and styles make fights – I feel that Marinez is the better fighter.”
Indianapolis’ Martin (15-0, 11 KOs) believes Marinez should have just one loss on his record (19-2, 7 KOs) because Marinez deserved to beat Rolando Romero in August 2020. North Las Vegas’ Romero (14-1, 12 KOs) won what was widely criticized as an unjust unanimous decision against Marinez in a 12-round WBA interim lightweight fight Showtime televised from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
“He outboxed Rolly,” Martin said. “He landed the cleaner shots, but that’s boxing.”
The 27-year-old Martin represents another stern test for Marinez, particularly on such short notice. The smart, skillful southpaw, who is promoted by unbeaten IBF/WBA/WBC welterweight champ Errol Spence Jr. and trained by Derrick James, is commonly considered one of the most underrated boxers in the sport.
Marinez has officially lost back-to-back bouts to Commey and Romero, but Martin feels the way he performs in their fight will show where he belongs when ranking him among the sport’s top lightweights.
“I think it would still take me up some notches because he still fought Rolly,” Martin said in reference to what a victory over Marinez would do for his career. “And then he fought Richard Commey. He took the loss to Richard Commey, but Richard Commey is still a great fighter. So, that’ll just put me in a different category, like, ‘Frank beat Marinez and he beat him decisively. So, what can he do against a Commey? Or a guy who’s a step up?’ So, I feel like this fight will still take me up some.”
Showtime will televise Martin-Marinez as the opener of a three-bout broadcast from Alamodome (9 p.m. ET).
Former WBC super bantamweight champ Brandon Figueroa (22-1-1, 17 KOs), of Weslaco, Texas, and Phoenix’s Carlos Castro (27-1, 12 KOs) are scheduled to box in the 12-round co-feature, a WBC featherweight elimination match. The Philippines’ Mark Magsayo (24-0, 16 KOs) will make his first defense of the WBC featherweight title against Mexico’s Rey Vargas (35-0, 22 KOs) in the 12-round main event.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.