Kiko Martinez Very Focused To Stun Warrington, Felt He Proved His Point With Galahad

IBF featherweight world champion Kiko Martinez is still riding high after last year’s stunning knockout win over Kid Galahad.

He will face Britain’s Josh Warrington, a former world champion, in a rematch on March 26 at the First Direct Arena in Leeds (England).

Four years ago, Warrington won a twelve round decision over Warrington.

Against Galahad, Martinez knew that he needed a knockout in order to win.

“Yes, I believed that the fight had to end by KO… the skills of the opponent, mine, the public, where the fight was taking place … I had to win by KO. It arrived earlier than planned, but from the fourth round on I was going to start fighting to win,” Martinez said to Rafa Hinojosa.

“I have really always been a very hard-working person, I don’t wait for opportunities but rather go looking for them. After those defeats [to Warrington and Leo Santa Cruz], I know that those fights were going to take a long time to arrive but with a lot of work, effort and dedication they would arrive. The thought was that in the very long term there would be a world title.

“The strategy was to wait for Galahad’s onslaught and from the fourth or fifth round to raise the level. We had already studied him and saw that he declines a bit in fights, but it is true that we did not expect him to come out so strong.”

Martinez believes Warrington will take him a lot more seriously than Galahad did.

“We already had a fight on March 26, defending the title against Warrington. It’s going to be a rematch, we already fought in 2017 and obviously he beat me in his day, and I think I’ll beat him this time, so on March 26 we will fight him,” Martinez said.

“[Galahad and his team overlooked me], that motivated me a lot, to run, train, discipline … the fact that they did not believe in me made me be more focused and sure of myself. The environment was very hostile, it was very bad, they insulted me a lot, their trainer called me old, Galahad called me old too, they did not respect me at all … In the end they saw that I was very disciplined, hardworking and that I went to win.”