Charles Martin: “I’m a young 37 and have never been more passionate about boxing”

Published

2 years ago

June 26, 2023

Charles-Martin-I'm-a-young-37-and-Have-Never-Been-More-Passionate-About-Boxing

Jared Anderson was slated to fight Kazakhstan’s Zhan Kossobutskiy on July 1 on ESPN in a match emanating from the 9,000-seat Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. That match-up fell out, purportedly because Kossobutskiy had visa problems. In steps Charles Martin and now the stakes are higher for Jared Anderson.

Anderson, a mere pup for a heavyweight at twenty-three years of age, has knocked out all 14 of his opponents at the professional level. Only two lasted beyond the third round. Hailed as the next great American heavyweight and a sure-shot future world champion, the Toledo native is on the path to becoming a very rich man.

Zhan Kossobutskiy’s record is no less impressive: 19-0 with 18 knockouts. However, Charles Martin (29-3-1, 26 KOs) is in some ways a more credible opponent.

Won-loss records in boxing are notoriously misleading and that’s especially true for a relative unknown who has never fought on American soil. Knowledgeable fans who have studied Kossubutskiy’s fights on youtube have told this reporter that he is legit and it’s worth noting that he defeated future Olympians Vassiliy Levit, Guido Vianello, and Frazer Clarke in his amateur days. However, the fact remains that as a pro, akin to Jared Anderson, he has yet to fight a reputable opponent. One of the few recognizable names on his ledger is Philadelphia journeyman Joey Dawejko. The Kazakh stopped him in the second round in Hamburg Germany, but the usually durable Dawejko came in overweight (a career-high 266 ¾ pounds) and fought as if he were just there for the payday.

If Anderson had fought Kossobutskiy and had blown him away, many pundits would have cushioned their kind words with the caveat that Jared still hasn’t been properly tested. If, perchance, Anderson blows away Charles Martin on July 1, retrospectives won’t command a caveat. “Prince Charles” has certainly been found wanting on occasion, but the St. Louis native has been in with some of the division’s hardest hitters and has the added beguilement of having once been a world title-holder.

His reign didn’t last long. Not quite three months after capturing the vacant IBF title with a quirky third-round stoppage of Vyacheslav Glazkov at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (Glazkov fell and suffered a knee injury), Martin went to London and was blasted out in the second round by Anthony Joshua. He is 6-2 since that mishap, most recently a fourth-round stoppage of 2004 U.S. Olympian Devin Vargas.

Charles Martin

2014 insert

Martin, pictured above with the late Michael King in a 2014 photo, is one of the last remnants of a grand experiment that bore little fruit.

A TV mogul – the family business, King World Productions, syndicated such powerhouses as “Oprah” and “Wheel of Fortune” — Michael King was a diehard boxing fan who built a state-of-the-art gym in Carson, California, with an eye to growing the next generation of great American heavyweights. He thought blue-chip athletes toiling in other sports like football and basketball were the best prospects.

King funneled millions into his pet project with the little to show for it. Six-foot-seven Dominic Breazeale, a former college quarterback, made the U.S. Olympic team and was a two-time world title challenger, but manufacturing a world champion proved to be elusive and King wasn’t there to celebrate when Charles Martin held the IBF belt aloft at the Barclays Center. The previous year, he contracted pneumonia and passed away at age sixty-seven.

Charles Martin, who comfortably carries 245 pounds on a six-foot-five frame, has the look of someone who would have excelled on the hardwood or the gridiron. However, that wasn’t the case. Unlike other heavyweights sponsored by Michael King, Martin, one might say, fell through the cracks.

“I was real skinny in high school and my mother didn’t want me to play football,” says Martin who bounced around in his schoolboy days and was living in Phoenix when he left school in the 11^th grade. And basketball? “I was okay playing in the street,” he says, “but lousy in a structured environment.”

What, then, was his best sport? “Bowling,” he says matter-of-factly. He currently plays in two leagues and avouches that his best game was a 269.

Another surprise awaited when Martin was asked to name his favorite boxers. The first name that popped out of his mouth was a Welshman, Joe Calzaghe. The two would seem to have little in common other than both being southpaws.

Since winning the title, Martin’s career has been choppy but there were underlying factors. “I lost my love for boxing after what happened in the Joshua fight,” he says. A full year elapsed before Martin fought again.

Then there was Covid. He’s had two encounters with the debilitating virus, the first popping up following his 2018 match with Adam Kownacki wherein he lost a 10-round decision.

“When I got to JFK Airport, it hit me,” he says. “They say that some people lose their sense of taste and sense of smell when they get it. I didn’t, but when I got home, I was so fatigued that all I wanted to do was stay in bed.”

Martin says that he had another brush with it after visiting his wife’s family in Atlanta. That begs the question of whether he was 100 percent on New Year’s Day of 2022 when Cuban slugger Luis “King Kong” Ortiz saddled him with his third loss. Martin was upright but on unsteady legs when the bout was waived off in the sixth frame.

Martin had Ortiz down twice before the roof fell in. He was ahead on all three cards through the five completed rounds.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Ortiz,” he says. “He hit me with some good shots. But something was wrong with me. After five rounds, I didn’t have any bounce in my legs.”

The setback to Ortiz, he says, had the exact opposite effect of his setback to Anthony Joshua. “After Joshua,” he says, “you couldn’t get me back in the gym unless I had a fight in the works. Now I couldn’t wait to get back in the gym.”

Martin now resides in Las Vegas where there is a sizeable colony of heavyweights. Veterans like Jonnie Rice and Michael Hunter, up-and-comers like Jeremiah Milton, Skylar Lacy, and Patrick Mailata, and a steady stream of European visitors like Joe Joyce have created something of a round-robin vibe in the local gyms where they spar. Oddly, although southpaws are always in demand as sparring partners, Martin says that he has never sparred with Jared Anderson. “I think it’s better that way,” he says, alluding to the fact that neither will enter the ring with any preconceptions.

Martin is the father of seven children. “One of my goals,” he says, “is to get all my kids under the same roof.” The youngest of his children, two-year-old twin boys, have been diagnosed as autistic. He plans to use his upcoming fight as a platform to make the public more aware of this complex disorder.

In handicapping the Anderson-Martin fight, the age gap looms large. “I know this is a young man’s game,” he says, “but I am a young thirty-seven.” And while Martin will be fighting in a hostile setting – this is a “welcome home” fight for Anderson who will be making his first start as a pro in the city where he was born and raised – the match is something of a homecoming fight for him as well. Martin finished his amateur career at a tournament in Toledo.

Based on the odds, Jared Anderson should have little trouble advancing his record to 15-0. Charles Martin stands ready to gum up the works.

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Arne K. Lang

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The Hauser Report: Adam Kownacki and a Sad Night at Madison Square Garden

Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser

Published

22 hours ago

May 18, 2025

Thomas Hauser

In recent years, there has been lavish praise and extensive criticism regarding Turki Alalshikh’s boxing initiative. Some of it has been warranted and some hasn’t. One issue deserves greater comment.

The judging has been pretty good.

Scoring a fight is subjective, which can open the door to bias, incompetence, and corruption.

Most people in boxing know who the good judges are. But some bad ones keep getting high-profile assignments. Why? Because they shade things toward the house fighter which is where the money lies.

When there’s a bad decision in boxing, almost always it favors the house fighter.

Overall, Turki Alalshikh’s fights have been marked by honest scoring.

Oleksandr Usyk went the distance four times against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Fury-Usyk I and Usyk-Joshua II could legitimately have been scored either way. It was in the Saudi’s financial interest (not to mention the interests of Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn) that Fury and Joshua win those fights. Yet Usyk won all four decisions.

Clearly, Turki Alalshikh wanted Hamzah Sheeraz to defeat Carlos Adames. Yet Adames retained his title when that bout was credibly scored a draw.

The list goes on.

Bad scoring trickles down from the top. Judges know that the monied interests behind a promotion want a certain fighter to win and that their receiving lucrative judging assignments in the future often depends on scoring the fight at hand a certain way.

The judging for Turki Alalshikh’s fights so far seems to have been based on the instruction, “Be fair. Get it right.”

Kudos for that.

****

Six years ago after unifying the four major cruiserweight titles, Oleksandr Usyk was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America as its “Fighter of the Year.” That designation was repeated in 2024 in recognition of his unifying the heavyweight crown.

While in New York to accept his most recent honor, Usyk sat with former NFL MVP Boomer Esiason for an interview that will air in early-June on the nationally syndicated television show Game Time.

Oleksandr came across as thoughtful and likeable during the conversation.

He shared memories of his father: “My father was a military guy. He teach me like a street fight, to work a knife, shooting. I use jujitsu, karate, wrestling, kickboxing. I say, ‘Poppa, what we do this for?’ . . . He says, ‘We prepare’ . . . ‘For what we prepare?’ . . . ‘For life.’”

Usyk won a gold medal in the 201-pound heavyweight division at the 2012 London Olympics. But his father died before Oleksandr could return home and show the medal to him. After Usyk beat Tyson Fury to unify the heavyweight crown, he cried as he proclaimed, “Hey, poppa, we did it.”

“A lot of people in Ukraine who hear that, they cry too,” Oleksandr told Esiason. “Is normal. [Some] people, ‘Hey man! Don’t cry.’ Why not cry? I like to cry.”

Speaking of the size differential between Fury and himself, Usyk noted, “For me, is like a story. David and Goliath. I not afraid because boxing is a sport. Yeah, it’s a guy a little bigger for me. No problem.”

Asked how he would describe his fighting style,” Oleksandr answered, “It’s a wonderful style.”

“Boxing for me is a gentleman’s sport,” he added. “Just respect for my opponents. A lot of people make a show. But if you make a good show and then bad boxing – [with a wave of his hand] PFFFTHF! First in boxing is class and skill; then the show.’

He explained how his training regimen includes holding his breath underwater: “I make like a fight time. Three minutes underwater, one minute rest, twelve rounds. Is hard.”

What’s the longest that Usyk has held his breath underwater?

“My record is 4 minutes 47 seconds.”

The interview closed with Oleksandr appealing directly to the American people to support his Ukrainian homeland in its defense against Russian aggression.

“I’m not political. I’m just [a] man who lives in Ukraine who’s worried for my people.”

And he talked of having brought some Ukrainian soldiers to his fights as guests: “They’re my power, my angels.”

****

Don King has been the subject of an endless stream of anecdotes. Jody Heaps (who spent three decades as a senior creative director and executive producer at Showtime) adds one more to the mix.

“Don had just brought Mike Tyson to Showtime,” Heaps recalls. “We were doing a shoot with Don sitting in a barber chair and he was in a great mood. Toward the end, someone came over to me and said, ‘If Don has the time, could you ask him about his favorite movie scene for a promotion we’re doing.’ So I asked Don what his favorite movie scene was. He told me movies weren’t his thing and said, ‘You tell me. What’s my favorite scene?’

“I talked it over with the crew,” Heaps continues. “Then I suggested the shower scene in Psycho. I figured Don had seen it. Everybody has seen it. But Don told me, ‘I don’t know anything about it. What happens in that scene?’ So I explained that you see Janet Leigh in shower. Then you see a silhouette on the shower curtain. The shower curtain is pulled aside. You see the knife plunging in again and again. And the last thing you see is blood circling down the drain.”

“Don says, ‘Okay; I’ve got it.’ He looks right at the camera and, with incredible drama, starts recreating the scene. Five seconds in, everyone is mesmerized. He takes us through Janet Leigh in the shower, the silhouette on the shower curtain, the knife plunging in again and again, the blood circling down the drain. And at the end, he laughed that loud booming laugh of his and proclaimed, ‘It was a clean kill!’

“There was stunned silence,” Heaps says in closing. “Don made it sound like it was real and he’d been there when it happened.”

****

Like most sports fans, I watched the first round of the NFL draft on April 24. I’ll do the same when the NBA draft is held on June 25. Allow me the following thoughts.

Adam Silver seems like a basketball fan.

Roger Goodell seems like a fan of making money.

Adam Silver looks sincere when he hugs a draftee.

Roger Goodell looks like he wants to take a shower.

Adam Silver comes across as though he has a sense of humor and can laugh at himself.

Roger Goodell comes across as though he doesn’t and can’t.

Adam Silver has James Dolan to deal with and keeps him in line.

Roger Goodell can’t put a lid on Jerry Jones.

Adam Silver is booed in good-natured fashion by fans at the draft.

Roger Goodell is booed with rabid enthusiasm

****

And last; a memory of Turki Alalshikh’s May 2 fight card in Times Square . . .

Security was tight. The police had been instructed to keep pedestrians on the sidewalk moving as they passed the ring enclosure which was blocked from view by a ten-foot-tall fence. Well before the event began, a young man with a video camera planted himself on the sidewalk across the street from the enclosure. A uniformed police officer approached and the following colloquy occurred.

Cop: I’m sorry, sir. You’ll have to move.

Young man: I’m with the media.

Cop: And I’m with the New York Police Department. You’ll have to move.

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder at: https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329

In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Hiruta, Bohachuk, and Trinidad Win at the Commerce Casino

Published

1 day ago

May 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Hiruta, Bohachuk, and Trinidad Win at the Commerce Casino

A jam-packed fight card featuring a world champion, top contenders and knockout artists delivered the action but no knockouts on Saturday in the Los Angeles area.

You can’t have everything.

Mizuki “Mimi” Hiruta (8-0, 2 KOs), fresh with a multi-year 360 Boxing Promotion’s contract deal, once again fought and defended the WBO super fly world title and this time against Argentina’s Carla Merino (16-3, 5 KOs) at Commerce Casino.

It was expected to be her toughest test.

Hiruta, who is trained and managed by Manny Robles, showed added poise and a sharp jab that created and established an invisible barrier that Merino could never crack. It was as simple as that.

A sharp right jab from the southpaw Japanese world champion in the opening round gave Merino something to figure out. When the Argentine fighter tried to counter Hiruta was out of range. That distance was a problem that Merino could not solve.

The pink-flame-haired Hiruta looks like an anime figure incapable of violence. But whenever Merino dared unload a combination Hiruta would eagerly pounce on the opportunity. It was clear that the champion’s speed and power was a problem.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training in Southern California and has sparred with numerous styles and situations in the talent-crazy Southern California area. Each time she fights the poise and polish gained from working with a variety of talent and skill partners seems to add more layers to the Japanese fighter’s arsenal.

After six rounds of clear control by Hiruta, the Argentine fighter finally made an assertive move to change the momentum with combination punching. Both exchanged but Hiruta cornered Merino and opened up with a seven-punch barrage.

In the eighth round Merino tried again to force an exchange and again Hiruta opened up with a three-punch combo followed by a four-punch combo. Merino dived inside the attack by the Japanese champion and accidentally butted Hiruta’s head. No serious damage appeared.

Merino tried valiantly to exchange with Hiruta but the strength, speed and agility were too much to overcome in the last two rounds of the fight. Left hand blows by the champion connected solidly several times in the final round.

After 10 rounds all three judges saw Hiruta the winner by decision 98-92 twice and 99-91. The fighter from Tokyo retains the WBO super fly title for the fourth time.

Bohachuk Wins

Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk (26-2, 24 KOs) defeated Mykal Fox (24-5, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision but had problems corralling the much taller fighter after 10 rounds in a super welterweight match.

It was only the second time Bohachuk won by decision.

Fox used movement all 10 rounds that never allowed Bohachuk to plant his feet to deliver his vaunted power. But though Fox had moments, they were not enough to offset the power shots that did land. Two judges scored it 97-93 for the Ukrainian and another had it 98-92

“Good experience for me,” said Bohachuk of Fox’s movement.

King of LA

In a super featherweight match Omar “King of LA” Trinidad (19-0-1, 13 KOs) dominated Nicaragua’s Alexander Espinoza (23-7-3, 8 KOs) but never came close to knocking out the spirited fighter. But did come close to dropping him.

The fighter out of the Boyle Heights area in the boxing hotbed of East L.A. was able to exchange freely with savage uppercuts to the body and head, but Espinoza would not quit. For 10 rounds Trinidad battered away at Espinoza but a knockout win was not possible.

After 10 rounds all three judges favored Trinidad (100-90, 99-91, 98-92) who retains his regional WBC title and his place in the featherweight rankings.

“I’m living the dream,” said Trinidad.

Maywood Fighter Medina on Target

Lupe Medina (10-0, 2 KOs) proved ready for the elite in knocking down world title challenger Maria Santizo (12-6, 6 KOs) and winning by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight match up.

Medina, a model-looking fighter out of Maywood, Calif, accepted a match against Santizo who had fought three times against world titlists including L.A. great Seniesa Estrada. She looked perfectly in her element.

Behind a ramrod jab and solid defense, Medina avoided the big swinging Santizo’s punches while countering accurately. For every home run swing by the Guatemalan fighter Medina would connect with a sharp right or left.

In the fifth round, Santizo opened up with a crisp three-punch combination and Medina opened up with her own four-punch blast that seemed to wobble the veteran fighter. Medina stepped on the gas and fired strategic blows but never left herself open for counters.

Medina didn’t waste time in the sixth round. A crisp one-two staggered Santizo who reeled backward. The referee ruled it a knockdown and Santizo was in trouble. Medina went into attack mode as Santizo pulled every trick she knew to keep from being overrun by the Maywood fighter.

In the last two rounds Medina seemed to look for the perfect shot to end the fight. Santizo kept busy with short shots and stayed away from meaningful exchanges. Medina also might have been gassed from expending so many punches in the prior round.

The two female fighters both seemed to want a knockout in the eighth round. Santizo was wary of Medina’s power and dived in close to smother Medina’s firing zone. Neither woman was able to connect with any significant shots.

After eight rounds all three judges scored in favor of Medina 77-74, 76-75 and 80-71.

It was proof Medina belongs among the top minimumweight fighters.

Other Bouts

In a super welterweight fight Michael Meyers (7-2) defeated Eduardo Diaz (9-4) by unanimous decision in a tough scrap. Mayers proved to be more accurate and was able to withstand a late rally by Diaz.

Abel Mejia (8-0) defeated Antonio Dunton El (6-4-2) by decision after six rounds in a super feather match.

Jocelyn Camarillo (4-0) won by split decision after four rounds versus Qianyue Zhao (0-2) in a light flyweight bout.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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David Allen Bursts Johnny Fisher’s Bubble at the Copper Box

Published

2 days ago

May 17, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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The first meeting between Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, and David Allen, the White Rhino, was an inelegant affair that produced an unpopular decision. Allen put Fisher on the canvas in the fifth frame and dominated the second half of the fight, but two of the judges thought that Fisher nicked it, allowing the “Bull” to keep his undefeated record. That match was staged last December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, underneath Usyk-Fury II.

The 26-year-old Fisher, who has a fervent following, was chalked a 13/5 favorite for the sequel today at London’s Copper Box Arena. At the weigh-in, Allen, who carried 265 pounds, looked as if he had been training at the neighborhood pub.

Through the first four rounds, Fisher fought cautiously, holding tight to his game plan. He worked his jab effectively and it appeared as if the match would go the full “10” with the Romford man winning a comfortable decision. However, in the waning moments of round five, he was a goner, left splattered on the canvas.

This was Fisher’s second trip to the mat. With 30 seconds remaining in the fifth, Allen put him on the deck with a clubbing right hand. Fisher got up swaying on unsteady legs, but referee Marcus McDonnell let the match continue. The coup-de-gras was a crunching left hook.

Fisher, who was 13-0 with 11 KOs heading in, went down face first with his arms extended. The towel flew in from his corner, but that was superfluous. He was out before he hit the canvas.

A high-class journeyman, the 33-year-old David Allen improved to 24-7-2 with his 16^th knockout. He promised fireworks – “going toe-to-toe, that’s just the way I’m wired” – and delivered the goods.

Other Bouts of Note

Northampton middleweight Kieron Conway added the BBBofC strap to his existing Commonwealth belt with a fourth-round stoppage of Welsh southpaw Gerome Warburton. It was the third win inside the distance in his last four outings for Conway who improved to 23-3-1 (7 KOs).

Conway trapped Warburton (15-2-2) in a corner, hurt him with a body punch, and followed up with a barrage that forced the referee to intervene as Warburton’s corner tossed in the white flag of surrender. The official time was 1:26 of round four. Warburton’s previous fight was a 6-rounder vs. an opponent who was 8-72-4.

In the penultimate fight on the card, George Liddard, the so-called “Billericay Bomber,” earned a date with Kieron Conway by dismantling Bristol’s Aaron Sutton who was on the canvas three times before his corner pulled him out in the final minute of the fifth frame.

The 22-year-old Liddard (12-0, 7 KOs) was a consensus 12/1 favorite over Sutton who brought a 19-1 record but against tepid opposition. His last three opponents were a combined 16-50-5 at the time that he fought them.

Also

In a bout that wasn’t part of the ESPN slate, Johnny Fisher stablemate John Hedges, a tall cruiserweight, won a comprehensive 10-round decision over Liverpool’s Nathan Quarless. The scores were 99-92, 98-92, and 97-93.

Purportedly 40-4 as an amateur, Hedges advanced his pro ledger to 11-0 (3). It was the second loss in 15 starts for the feather-fisted Quarless, a nephew of 1980s heavyweight gatekeeper Noel Quarless.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

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