Charles Martin (boxer)

Charles Martin (born April 24, 1986) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF heavyweight title from January to April 2016.^[1] His 85-day reign as champion is the second shortest in heavyweight boxing history, after Tony Tucker's 64 days in 1987 (also as IBF champion).^[2]

Amateur career

Martin had 63 fights as an amateur, having started boxing at the age of 22. In 2012 he won the National PAL Championships.^[3][4]

Professional career

Early career

Martin turned professional on October 27, 2012. He made his TV debut on ESPN July 19, 2013, when he beat Aaron Kinch by a 4th round TKO. On September 21, he beat then undefeated Vincent Thompson (13-0). The fight was in Thompson's homestate Washington and Martin got a unanimous decision. He dropped Thompson in the first round, for the first time in his career.^[5][6] On October 25, Martin defeated Haitian Dieuly Aristilde, by TKO in round one.^[7] On November 14, Martin became the first man to ever stop Joey Dawejko. Martin dropped Dawejko in the 4th round. Dawejko's corner asked to get the fight stopped between the 4th and 5th round.^[8] Charles Martin fought 11 times in 2013. On December 21 he won against undefeated Cuban heavyweight Glendy Hernandez (10-0).^[9]

Becoming a top contender

On April 16, 2014 Martin won the vacant WBO NABO heavyweight title by beating former undefeated boxer Alexander Flores by KO in the 4th round.^[10][11] Martin was in a non-title fight a month later against 38 year old journeyman Rafael Pedro at the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California. In an overmatched fight, Martin floored Pedro twice in round one winning the bout via knockout.^[10] In July 2014, Martin successfully defended the title for the first time at BB King Blues Club & Grill in New York against 37 year old veteran Kertson Manswell. Manswell hadn't fought in seven months, since his loss to Wendell Jorkhu. Martin entered the bout with a seven fight knockout streak. Martin won via the third knockdown rule, knocking Manswell down three times in round 3, forcing the stoppage.

After a six month gap, Martin returned to fight Damon McCreary (15-3, 11 KOs) in a non title 6 round bout. Martin won after 2 minutes into the first round via TKO. Martin made a defence of the title on February 28, 2015 against former Brazilian heavyweight champion Raphael Zumbano Love (35-9-1, 28 KOs) at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona. Martin won via TKO in the 10th and final round with a minute remaining. Martin's next defence came on April 25, on the undercard of Klitschko-Jennings at the Madison Square Garden in New York against British boxer Tom Dallas.

The fight last one round as Dallas was knocked out by a straight left hand to the head from Martin. Martin made his fourth and final defence of his WBO-NABO title on September 25 at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama against Mexican WBO Latino heavyweight champion Vicente Sandez (15-4, 10 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round fight. By the third round, Martin was ahead on all scorecards (20-17, 3 times), knocking Sandez down in round 2. The fight was stopped by referee Flynn Gerald, 35 seconds into round 3 following another knockdown.

IBF heavyweight champion

Martin vs. Glazkov

Following Tyson Fury's win against Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 in becoming the new unified heavyweight champion, the IBF ordered Fury to make a mandatory defence against Vyacheslav Glazkov. However, Fury opted to take the rematch against Klitschko, thus being stripped of the IBF title in the process. The IBF then ordered Glazkov to fight Martin for a vacant world title on January 16 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Glaskov's purse for the fight was $804,700, whilst Martin had a purse of $433,300.^[12]

Martin claimed the vacant title by stopping Glazkov in the third round, due to injury. By round 3, the scorecards were (19-19,18-20, 20-18). Glazkov slipped to the canvas when his feet got tangled with Martin. Referee Earl Brown ruled it a slip, but Glazkov appeared to hurt his right knee following the fall. When the fight resumed, Glazkov threw a punch but went down again without being hit. He dropped to the canvas again, clearly in pain. The fight was stopped, with the ringside doctor diagnosing him with a torn right ACL. According to CompuBox, Martin landed 26 of 105 punches (25 percent), and Glazkov connected on 19 of 64 blows (30 percent).^[13][14]

Martin vs. Joshua

Martin chose to make the first defence of his title against rising British star and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Anthony Joshua at The O2 Arena in London on 9 April 2016. It was reported that Martin would bank £6 million ($8.5 m) for the defense against Joshua.^[15]

In the fight, a cautious Martin was floored twice by Joshua's right hand in the second round, failing to beat the count on the second occasion.^[16][17] Martin was heavily criticized for his performance, and apparent lack of ambition to win the fight. Observers accused him of quitting early, feeling that he could have got up quicker and fought on.^[18][19] At just 85 days, Martin's reign as IBF heavyweight champion was the second shortest in professional boxing history, with only Tony Tucker's 1987 reign being shorter.

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
25	Loss	23–1–1	Anthony Joshua	KO	2 (12), 1:32	Apr 9, 2016	The O2 Arena, London, England	Lost IBF heavyweight title
24	Win	23–0–1	Vyacheslav Glazkov	TKO	3 (12), 1:50	Jan 16, 2016	Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.	Won vacant IBF heavyweight title
23	Win	22–0–1	Vicente Sandez	KO	3 (10), 0:35	Sep 26, 2015	Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.	Retained WBO–NABO heavyweight title
22	Win	21–0–1	Tom Dallas	TKO	1 (10), 2:56	Apr 25, 2015	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.	Retained WBO–NABO heavyweight title
21	Win	20–0–1	Raphael Zumbano Love	KO	10 (10), 1:47	Feb 28, 2015	Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.	Retained WBO–NABO heavyweight title
20	Win	19–0–1	Damon McCreary	KO	1 (6), 2:21	Jan 9, 2015	Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, Cabazon, California, U.S.
19	Win	18–0–1	Kertson Manswell	TKO	3 (10), 2:33	Jul 23, 2014	BB King Blues Club & Grill, New York City, New York, U.S.	Retained WBO–NABO heavyweight title
18	Win	17–0–1	Rafael Pedro	KO	1 (10), 2:19	May 20, 2014	Pier, Santa Monica, California, U.S.	Retained WBO–NABO heavyweight title
17	Win	16–0–1	Alexander Flores	KO	4 (10), 1:14	Apr 16, 2014	Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, California, U.S.	Won vacant WBO–NABO heavyweight title
16	Win	15–0–1	Tyyab Beale	KO	2 (8), 2:37	Mar 1, 2014	Evangeline Downs, Opelousas, Louisiana, U.S.
15	Win	14–0–1	Maurenzo Smith	RTD	3 (8), 3:00	Feb 6, 2014	Florentine Gardens, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
14	Win	13–0–1	Glendy Hernandez	RTD	4 (6), 3:00	Dec 21, 2013	Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
13	Win	12–0–1	Joey Dawejko	RTD	4 (6), 3:00	Nov 14, 2013	Florentine Gardens, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
12	Win	11–0–1	Dieuly Aristilde	TKO	1 (6), 2:27	Oct 25, 2013	Quiet Cannon, Montebello, California, U.S.
11	Win	10–0–1	Vincent Thompson	UD	6	Sep 21, 2013	Little Creek Casino Resort, Shelton, Washington, U.S.
10	Win	9–0–1	Aaron Kinch	TKO	4 (6), 2:55	Jul 19, 2013	Rockingham Park, Salem, New Hampshire, U.S.
9	Win	8–0–1	Joshua Clark	UD	6	Jun 6, 2013	The Hangar, Costa Mesa, California, U.S.
8	Win	7–0–1	Sylvester Barron	KO	2 (6), 0:31	May 22, 2013	Pier, Santa Monica, California, U.S.
7	Draw	6–0–1	Alvaro Morales	MD	4	Mar 30, 2013	Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
6	Win	6–0	Phillip Triantafillo	KO	2 (4), 1:44	Mar 14, 2013	Florentine Gardens, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
5	Win	5–0	Anthony Hinson	KO	1 (4), 2:57	Feb 23, 2013	Quiet Cannon, Montebello, California, U.S.
4	Win	4–0	Kosetatino Sinoti	KO	1 (4), 2:39	Feb 1, 2013	Jonathan Club, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
3	Win	3–0	Terrance Perro	KO	4 (4), 0:41	Dec 21, 2012	Florentine Gardens, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
2	Win	2–0	Larry Ward	KO	3 (4), 1:31	Nov 17, 2012	Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
1	Win	1–0	Vashawn Tomlin	KO	1 (4), 3:00	Oct 27, 2012	Music Factory, Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.	Professional debut

Titles in boxing

Personal life

Martin was born in St. Louis, before moving to Colorado Springs and Phoenix after the age of 12. Martin started doing construction work from the age of 14 and had his first son at a young age. He has four children.^[20]

Outside of boxing

It was reported by Sky Sports that Martin was shot in the early hours of August 5, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Martin was allegedly involved in an altercation with two men that resulted in him having a gunshot wound to his forearm, as he was driving away. He underwent surgery for the wound.^[21] Martin checked out of hospital following surgery on August 10.^[22]

References