After signing with Probellum to pave way for his fighting overseas and surpassing another big test of his career so far, good tidings keep on falling on the lap of Carl Jammes Martin and his team as two of the four world sanctioning bodies in boxing highly ranked the new comer in their latest ratings.
According to boxingscene.com, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) has the Lagawe, Ifugao native in its top 10 super bantamweight fighters at #9 while the World Boxing Association (WBA) tagged him as its 14th best 122-pound fighter. Boxingscene.com’s ratings for this division, also called junior featherweight, and the other divisions were updated as of April 18, 2022.
If the Cordilleran continues his winning ways against tougher foreign fighters in his next few fights, a world title shot should be available in the near future.
The unbeaten Martin became the latest Filipino fighter to join the ranks at Probellum last month, following the footsteps of more prominent countrymen Nonito Donaire and Donnie Nietes.
Probellum, a new boxing promotion outfit launched last year, is headed by Richard Schaefer as president.
According to Probellum’s website, Schaefer has been one of the most respected and powerful boxing promoters of the last 20 years. The Swiss born banker moved into the sport as CEO of Golden Boy in 2002 and helped it become a promotional powerhouse working with some of the biggest fighters of the era, including Floyd Mayweather Junior, Oscar De Lay Hoya and Ricky Hatton.
The global promotion and media company officially launched in September 2021. The business was formed by UK-based businessman Ali Shams Pour teaming up with Schaefer.
For his part, Martin was quoted to say he and his team have been studying all possible options and situations that will lay the groundwork for his international boxing success for the last three year.
They took cognizance of their patience paying off and joining Probellum has been worth the wait.
“I have never been so excited to showcase to the world our local culture and my skills as a boxer, and represent my country in the same way that Senator Manny Pacquiao did, the young Cordilleran boxing phenom said.
Martin believes his career will not go wrong with Schaefer calling the shots and giving his great advice.
Schaefer acknowledged the Philippines’ rich boxing heritage, with the country producing some of the remarkable fighters of all-time over the years and how Filipinos support its boxers with incredible devotion.
He was thrilled to add Martin to their Filipino fighters. He took notice of Martin’s serious power in both hands.
He delivered in his initial promise: making sure the “Wonder Boy” quickly moving up the super bantamweight rankings.
According to reports, Martin became a target signee of MP Promotions and Probellum. Martin still maintains her sister, Jing, as his local manager while hiring MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons as his international manager.
Right after signing with Probellum, Martin overcame another tough test of his career when he had to comeback from a knockdown to score a knockout over Ronnie Baldonado in defending his Philippine super bantamweight title and add the vacant WBA Asia super bantamweight title on March 12, 2022 at the Elorde Sports Complex in Parañaque.
The 22-year old highlander tasted the canvas when a Baldonado right hand landed cleanly on the right side of his face and suffered a visible black mark on his opposite eye but came back strong to deck Baldonado and score a technical knockout in round 11.
Martin improved his unbeaten record to 19-0 with 16 knockouts while sending Baldonado’s to 15-3-1 with 9 knockouts.
The stoppage was the 16th of his career. He alternated unanimous decisions and knockouts in his last four fights.
By Armando M. Bolislis
