The future of Fighter Locker, a Boston-based boxing management company, was on display last night in Colombia as 2-time Olympians Yuberjen “Tremendo” Martinez and “El Tsunami” Leonel de los Santos were dominant in their ESPN Deportes fights at Elias Chegwin Coliseum in Barranquilla.
The 30-year-old Martinez, who represented Colombia in the last two summer Olympic Games, capturing a silver medal in 2016, made his long-awaited pro debut much to the delight of his fellow Colombians, knocking out Argentinian flyweight Yeison “El Chino” Hernandez (6-4, 2 KOs) in the fourth round.
In addition to his Olympics experience, Martinez was a highly decorated amateur who won gold medals at the 2014 & 2018 Central American & Caribbean Games and the 2018 South American Games. He also took bronze at the prestigious 2017 World Championships, bronze at the 2019 Pan American Games.
Santos (7-0, 5 KOs), fighting out of the Dominican Republic, thoroughly outboxed veteran Colombian lightweight Luis Diaz Marmol (18-16, 11 KOs) enroute to a shutout decision, winning all six rounds on each of the three judges’ scorecards. Santos, a southpaw, won a silver medal at the 2019 Pan-American Games.
“’Tremendo’ faced a tough opponent in a rare 6-round debut, knocking out his opponent in the third round,” Fighter Locker president Ryan Roach said. “He has all the tools and intangibles of a world champion. I can see him winning a major title in less than 10 fights.
“Leonel dominated for six rounds. He had great output in terms of punches over six rounds against a rough, veteran opponent. Leonel also had to overcome a head butt. He also used his defense to limit his opponent to landing 5-6 punches. That’s what we had worked on during camp, landing his shots and moving, so I’m very happy with his performance.”