The above headline may seem a little harsh, but after the quite pathetic looking showing he gave against Anthony Joshua in April, fans have every right to have lost most, if not all interest in one “Prince” Charles Martin. Making the first defence of the IBF heavyweight title he was deemed by many to have been fortunate to win when Vyascheslav Glazkov’s knee blew out in a fight between the two that contested the recently vacated strap, Martin offered almost nothing against the big Brit known as A.J.
Martin was reportedly paid handsomely for his short, 2-rounds, night of work, and many fans felt they’d probably seen the last of Martin. But no, the former champ is set to get back into training in early August, with a couple of return fights being looked at before the humbled fighter who, before the Joshua debacle said he “walks this earth like a God,” hopes to get back to the top next year. This is the plan according to Martin’s manager, Mike Boroa, who outlined these plans to RingTV.com.
“Mentally, he wasn’t there,” Boroa said of Martin in the April fight with Joshua. “He may or may not do a tune-up fight at the end of September. And then a top-15 opponent in November or December? And then hopefully another big shot in the first or second quarter of next year.”
It’s not clear which card Martin will look to fight on but Boroa did list a few possible opponents for Martin: Dominic Breazeale (last seen also losing to Joshua but putting up far, far more resistance than Martin did), Gerald Washington (unbeaten), Travis Kauffman (coming off that close points loss/turned no-decision to Chris Arreola) and Eric Molina (coming off a good win over Tomasz Adamek and being in the frame for a big fight in the UK with David Price).
With all due respect, all four of these fighters would very likely defeat Martin if he fought as poorly as he did against Joshua. It is now up to Martin, 23-1-1(21) to win the fans over all over again by showing he can fight with real devil and how he is both hungry and proud. It could be a long and hard road for the southpaw. Heavyweights have of course come back from quick stoppage losses in the past, but is Martin willing to put in the effort these fighters did?
If he can get himself into top shape – mentally as well as physically – and reel off two or three good wins over good opposition, more power to Martin. But will fight fans be willing to tune in and support him in the initial stages of his planned comeback?