This is a great step up fight for Xavier Martinez who looks to be a very promising prospect in the Super Featherweight division. Claudio Marrero has been a gatekeeper at featherweight for the last few years but is moving up to Super featherweight for this fight which may not bode well for him.
Xavier Martinez throws in combination and puts a lot of power behind his punches. He generally fights on the front foot and slowly creeps forward before firing off a three or four punch combination. I think his defence has looked great so far though like most prospects he hasn’t faced anyone that would really test it yet. His stamina and chin are also suspect so far though hes never given any reason for me to suspect either is bad. He is the naturally bigger man in this fight and also much younger and fresher.
Claudio Marrero is a boxer-puncher who changes how he fights throughout the fight. He sometimes doesn’t throw that many punches and limits himself to single shots but the next round will blitz out and throw huge amounts of punches behind a very solid jab. I think the biggest problem he has is concentration and fight IQ which is clearly lacking but is made up by him being a gifted athlete. He is the smaller man and is coming towards the end of his career after taking a hard loss against Kid Galahad where he took a lot of punches.
I think this fight will be closer than the bookies indicate though Xavier Martinez should be able to use his physical advantages to win a hard fought decision after ten rounds. I think many are underestimating Marrero and if this fight was at featherweight versus a prospect who was smaller I would heavily favour Marrero.
Boxing Fulcrum 