Xavier Martinez Signs With Top Rank, To Fight Robson Conceicao In ESPN Main Event January 29
BY
KEITH IDEC
Published Wed Dec 15, 2021, 11:14 AM EST
If Xavier Martinez is to fight for a 130-pound world title, the 24-year-old contender will do so as a member of Top Rank’s stable of fighters.
BoxingScene.com has learned that Martinez has signed a multi-fight promotional agreement with Bob Arum’s company, which is heavily invested in Martinez’s weight class. Sacramento’s Martinez will make his Top Rank debut January 29, when he will battle Brazil’s Robson Conceicao in the evenly matched main event of an ESPN telecast from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Martinez (17-0, 11 KOs) was built from a prospect into a contender by Mayweather Promotions. His contract with Floyd Mayweather’s company expired after his 10-round, unanimous-decision victory over Victor Burgos on May 15, though, which led to Top Rank offering him a deal that Mayweather Promotions declined to match.
In Conceicao (16-1, 8 KOs), Martinez will face a top 130-pound contender who pushed unbeaten WBC champion Oscar Valdez in his most recent action. Mexico’s Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) beat Conceicao by unanimous decision in their 12-round title fight September 10 at Casino del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.
In addition to Valdez, Conceicao and Martinez, Top Rank promotes unbeaten WBO junior lightweight champ Shakur Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) and former WBO champ Jamel Herring (23-3, 11 KOs) and co-promotes former WBC champ Miguel Berchelt (38-2, 34 KOs) in the 130-pound division.
Before Martinez and the 33-year-old Conceicao meet in a 10-rounder, featherweight contenders Joet Gonzalez and Adam Lopez will square off in the 10-round co-feature January 29.
Gonzalez (24-2, 14 KOs), of Glendora, California, also entered a promotional agreement with Top Rank recently. The 28-year-old Gonzalez, who was previously represented by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, will attempt to bounce back from a one-sided, 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat to WBO 126-pound champion Emanuel Navarrete (35-1, 29 KOs) on October 15 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
Lopez (15-3, 6 KOs, 1 NC), of Glendale, California, most recently settled for a no-contest in his rematch with Adan Ochoa last month. Ochoa (12-2, 5 KOs, 1 NC), of Downey, California, suffered a gruesome gash on his right eyebrow that prohibited him from answering the bell for the third round on the Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter undercard November 20 at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.
Martinez overcame Mexico’s Burgos (34-6-2, 21 KOs) in a competitive, entertaining encounter Showtime televised nearly seven months ago from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. In his previous appearance, Martinez got up from two eighth-round knockdowns to out-point Dominican southpaw Claudio Marrero (25-5, 18 KOs) by unanimous decision in a 12-rounder that took place in October 2020 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
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