Sandor Martin -- who? -- pulls massive upset with majority decision over Mikey Garcia

Sandor Martin was supposed to be a prop, just a guy on the other side of the ring for Mikey Garcia to bat around for a few rounds to get his tune-up win in following a 19-month layoff before moving on to a major fight.

Everything was set up for Garcia to win the welterweight fight. He made Martin come up in weight to meet him at a catch weight of 145 pounds. Garcia’s purse was $1.5 million and Martin was thrown $150,000. When the purse disparity is that great you know who is supposed to win.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the pre-ordained result — the unknown, unheralded Martin, with no resume to speak of, and who was handpicked by Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn and Team Garcia, scored perhaps the upset of the year.

Martin boxed the fight of his life against a lethargic, uninspired Garcia and came away with a massive upset in the main event on DAZN on Saturday night before a pro-Garcia crowd of about 8,000 at the outdoor Chukchansi Park in Fresno, California.

Martin, the former European junior welterweight champion with a record devoid of a single notable victory before Saturday, has one now.

Martin, whose biggest previous fight was a unanimous decision loss to former junior welterweight world title challenger Anthony Yigit in 2017, beat former four-division world titlist Garcia 97-93 on two scorecards with one judge scoring it 95-95. Fight Freaks Unite also scored it for Martin, 96-94, whose southpaw style gave Garcia major problems, just as Errol Spence Jr.’s had in a shutout decision win over Garcia in his March 2019 welterweight title challenge.

“First of all, I want to thank Fresno for all the appreciation that they’ve given to me over these past days and to Mikey Garcia. He’s a legend,” Martin said through interpreter Gabe Rivas. “It really is a pride and a pleasure to be able to share the ring with him. It’s the biggest moment of my career. I always said I was going to do it and I’ve done it.

“I know myself. I know my capabilities and I’ve been doing it since I was 5 years old. I said I was going to do it — go out and beat the best fighters in the world and that’s what I’ve done.”

Garcia did not complain about the decision and seemed unemotional about the defeat.

“I thought it was a good fight. He fought a very good fight,” Garcia said. “He was boxing. I thought I did what was necessary to close the gap, putting the pressure (on), looking for the fight. He was the one running around a lot. He countered a few times, but I was the one actively looking for the fight. I thought I was ahead on the cards. It is what it is. That’s why there’s three judges and they decided he was the one winning the fight.”

The fight lacked any sustained action, which was ideal for Martin against the bigger hitter in Garcia. Martin was able to feint, move and outbox Garcia for much of the fight. Garcia was a lot more aggressive, but rarely was able to land combinations and never hurt Martin, who was content not to engage.

Garcia did have his moments, such as in the third round when he let his hands go and connected with some combinations and left hooks. But Martin capably landed counter punches.

In the fourth round, he nailed Garcia with a straight left hand to the face and a few sneaky right hooks.

Garcia (40-2, 30 KOs), 33, of Ventura, California, who has won world titles from featherweight to junior welterweight and was long a regular on pound-for-pound lists, tried to force Martin to the ropes and bully him and rough him up. He was able to do it here and there but only briefly before Martin escaped.

The crowd tried to lift Garcia in the seventh round with chants of “Mikey! Mikey!” However, Martin (39-2, 13 KOs), 28, of Spain, had a good round, landing more straight left hands.

There was little urgency from either corner in the final rounds and none from either fighter other than a fierce exchange in a corner that closed the fight. Garcia got in a few solid shots, but they were too little, too late.

“I knew I had to frustrate him,” said Martin, who won his 10th fight in a row. “I know he’s a complete boxer. I knew what I was capable of and I wasn’t overconfident, but I knew in my mind what my capabilities were.”

According to CompuBox statistics, Martin landed 75 of 231 punches (33 percent) and Garcia connected with 60 of 318 (19 percent). Martin landed 31 punches in the 10th round, second most by a Garcia opponent other than Spence.

Garcia had hoped a victory would pave the way for a major fight with former junior welterweight titlist Regis Prograis, which was in the works but not finalized due to the hurried time frame for Saturday’s date and a lack of budgetary support from DAZN for the date. Garcia also talked of a desire to move down in weight for a possible shot at undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor or a showdown with secondary junior welterweight titlist Gervonta “Tank” Davis. After the loss, however, all of that is most likely off the table.

Garcia did not blame his long layoff or claim to have underestimated Martin.

“No, not really,” Garcia said when asked about the layoff. “I’ve been training. I’ve been fine. He didn’t put a beating on me. It was a good fight, a competitive fight. I thought I was winning the fight in a close matchup, but the judges saw it the other way around.”

As for the possibility he underestimate Martin, Garcia said he did not do that at all.

“No, not at all. I knew he was a very good boxer,” Garcia said. “I’ve seen some of his films and I knew he could box. That’s why I was the aggressor, coming forward. But I couldn’t get reckless either because he was looking for those counters. I still thought I did enough to win the rounds, being I was the aggressor looking for the fight. The judges thought he was the one in control. I thought I was the one in control.”

Hearn told Fight Freaks Unite that Garcia does not have a rematch clause in his contract. Martin said, however, if Garcia wants one he would gladly give it to him, though there is unlikely to be any public demand for a sequel.

“If he gave me the opportunity, I can give him the opportunity,” Martin said. “Really, what I want to do with my career is to go back to 140 pounds, fight the best fighters, fight for world titles. I’m very happy for what I’ve done. I’ve done something that nobody has ever done from my country, to defeat someone who is a four-division world champion like Mikey Garcia.”

Of a rematch, Garcia said, “I would definitely consider a rematch. I think two more rounds (to make it a 12-rounder) would have been more beneficial. I thought I was coming on a little better in the later rounds. But that’s the way it is.”

In the most notable undercard fight, Jonathan Gonzalez (25-3-1, 14 KOs), 30, a southpaw from Puerto Rico, dethroned WBO junior flyweight titlist Elwin Soto by split decision. Gonzalez, the mandatory challenger, moved constantly and outboxed Soto (19-2, 13 KOs), 24, of Mexico, to win the non-fan friendly bout 116-112 on two scorecards while one judge had it 116-112 for Soto, who was making his fourth defense. Gonzalez won a world title in his second shot. In 2019, he lost by seventh round knockout in Japan challenging Kosei Tanaka for the WBO flyweight title.

Purses

Per the California State Athletic Commission, these are the purses for the card: Mikey Garcia $1.5 million, Sandor Martin $150,000; Marc Castro $14,000, Angel Luna $8,000; Elwin Soto $75,000, Jonathan Gonzalez $15,000; Jesse Rodriguez $20,000, Jose Burgos $16,000; Brock Jarvis $20,000, Alejandro Frias Rodriguez $12,000; Oscar Alan Perez $2,500, Raymundo Rios Cardiel $3,000; Diego Pacheco $15,000, Lucas de Abreu $6,400; Nikita Ababiy $25,000, Sanny Duversonne $9,000; Charlie Sheehy $4,000, Luciano Ramos $2,000.

Photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing

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