WBC Silver light welterweight champion Josh Taylor (14-0, 12 KOs) advanced in the World Boxing Super Series 140 lb tournament tonight in stopping Ryan Martin 22-1, 12 KOs) in the 7th round in a frustratingly one-sided fight at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. Taylor, 27, knocked Martin down in the 7th. The referee waived the fight off at 2:21 of the 7th.
Martin had success landing his shots when he let his hands go. The problem is, he was unable to throw enough shots to give himself a chance to win. Simply put, Martin forfeited his ability to win the fight by failing to throw shots.
It’s good that the referee stopped the fight. Martin didn’t want to be there, so keeing him out there to take more punishment was a waste of time for him and for the boxing fans. As early as the 4th, Martin’s trainer Abel Sanchez had been telling him that he should just go home if he didn’t want to fight. The referee did Sanchez and Martin a favor by stopping the slaughter.
Taylor unloaded with a blizzard of punches against Martin in the 7th round that sent him down. The referee wasn’t going to wait around to watch more of the slaughter, so he stopped it. The performance from Martin was one of the worst in the WBSS tournament. Martin looked like a sparring partner and he didn’t belong out there. Martin’s power, speed and defense were top notch, but he wasn’t interested in throwing punches. It was a strange fight to watch. Martin’s trainer Abel Sanchez was begging him to throw shots the entire fight, but he just wouldn’t comply. Martin looked traumatized from the moment the fight started until it was thankfully stopped in the 7th.
Martin’s trainer Sanchez is going to take heat for sending him out there looking the way he did against Taylor. Martin was unprepared for this fight. The 5’11” Martin should have been ready to throw punches, but he wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t follow the instructions that Sanchez was giving him. In hindsight, the WBSS organizers should have selected someone a little more proven than Martin.
It’s hard to give Taylor credit for his win, because Martin was so bad. It was one of those fights here one guy was so awful that it was impossible to give the winner Taylor credit for beating him. Martin would have lost to almost anyone tonight, as he wasn’t throwing punches.
Taylor’s next fight in the World Boxing Super Series 140 lb tournament will be against IBF light welterweight champion Ivan Baranchyk (19-1, 12 KOs) in early 2019. That fight is going to be a war, and there’s a chance that Baranchyk wins it. He looked better in his win over Anthony Yigit in the quarterfinal of their WBSS fight than Taylor looked tonight.
