Martinez vs Abe

Who won Martinez vs Abe?

Reiya Abe beat Kiko Martinez by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest on Saturday, April 8th, 2023, at Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku.

The scorecards were announced as 117-111, 119-109, 119-109 in favor of winner Reiya Abe.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Featherweight division, which meant the weight limit was 126 pounds (9 stone or 57.1 kg).

This contest was a final eliminator for the IBF featherweight championship of the world.

This fight appeared on the undercard of Kenshiro Teraji beating Anthony Olascuaga for the WBA Super World Light Flyweight and WBC World Light Flyweight championship. Also on the undercard Takuma Inoue defeated Liborio Solis for the WBA World Bantamweight belt, and Jin Sasaki was victorious over Keita Obara.

Martinez vs Abe stats

Back in April 2023, Kiko Martinez stepped into the ring with a record of 44 wins, 11 losses, and 2 draws.

Reiya Abe made his way to the ring with a record of 24 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw.

Kiko Martinez was the older man by 7 years, at 37 years old.

Abe had a height advantage of 3 inches over Martinez. That also extended to a 2-inch reach advantage.

Kiko Martinez fought out of the orthodox stance, while Reiya Abe was a southpaw.

Martinez was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 29 more fights, and made his debut in 2004, 8 years and 11 months earlier than Abe, whose first professional fight was in 2013. He had fought 151 more professional rounds, totaling 349 compared to Abe's 198.

Kiko Martinez went into the fight ranked number 5 by the WBC, and 2 by the IBF at featherweight.

Reiya Abe was ranked number 12 by the WBA, 3 by the WBC, 7 by the WBO, and 3 by the IBF in the 126lb division.

Martinez vs Abe form

Martinez had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had defeated Jordan Gill on October 29, 2022, by technical knockout in the 4th round at Wembley Arena, Wembley, United Kingdom.

Prior to that, he had been beaten by Josh Warrington on March 26, 2022, by technical knockout in the 7th round in their IBF World Featherweight championship fight at First Direct Arena, Leeds.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Kid Galahad on November 13, 2021, by technical knockout in the 6th round in their IBF World Featherweight championship fight at Sheffield Arena, Yorkshire.

Before that, he had beaten Jayro Duran on September 11, 2021, by unanimous decision in their 8 round contest at Pabellón de la Vall d'Hebron, Cataluña, Spain.

He had lost to Zelfa Barrett on February 13, 2021, by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at Wembley (SSE) Arena, London, United Kingdom.

Activity check

Martinez's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 1 month and 26 days, which means he had been fighting approximately every 5 months and 5 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 37 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 7.4 rounds on average.

What time did Martinez vs Abe start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 9:00 AM UTC at Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, Japan, which was 5:00 AM EST or 2:00 AM PST on the West Coast of America, or 10:00 AM BST in the UK.

Who broadcast Martinez vs Abe?

The fight was broadcast in the United States by ESPN+.

What were the odds on Martinez vs Abe?

Kiko Martinez was a 1/1 (+100) underdog going into the contest, while Reiya Abe made his way into the ring at 4/5 (-130) with oddsmakers.