Julio Martinez title defense against McWilliams Arroyo ends in disappointment
While competing in the belly of the SNHU Arena, WBC world flyweight champion Julio “El Rey” Martinez (18-1, 14 KO’s) attempted to make a fourth defense of his title. In the contest with McWilliams Arroyo (21-4, 16 KO’s) however, the fight ended in a frustrating and anticlimactic No Decision. The prizefight only stood as Martinez’s second bout of the year.
Prior to this bout, Martinez and Arroyo had been scheduled to fight one another two other times. Unfortunately their August 2020 bout was called off when Martinez suffered from fever and a throat infection. Then their February 27 bout was nixed when El Rey suffered a hand injury.
In his last at bat, on February 27, Arroyo defeated Abraham Rodriguez to capture the WBC interim flyweight title. Given the sour fashion in which the bout wrapped up, it’s unclear what either man will do next.
DEATH CUTS
The two competitors began the bout set up behind power jabs and occasional power shots. The feel-out process maintained until Arroyo clipped the champion with a hard left that dropped him. In dramatic fashion however, after surviving the adversity, El Rey dropped Arroyo with his own left hook. As he was seriously hurt, Arroyo was saved by the bell. Things quickly got worse as he suffered a cut and was dropped again in the second period. The gash over his right eye was gushing blood and clearly bothering Arroyo.
In yet another dramatic shift, the bout abruptly ended when the ring doctor determined that Arroyo’s vision was too impaired. Arroyo definitely did not argue or try overly hard to get the fight to continue. As the cut was caused by an accidental headbutt the fight was ruled a No Decision.
By: Bakari Simpson
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