Martinez Gets Shot to Move Up

Junior middleweight Nick Martinez of Bassett will attempt to step up in class and into the world boxing rankings when he faces world-ranked Alfred Ankamah of Ghana tonight in the 10-round main event at the Arrowhead Pond.

Martinez (16-0, seven knockouts) is ranked 14th by the North American Boxing Federation and seventh by the North American Boxing Organization. Ankamah, captain of Ghana’s 1988 Olympic team that featured Ike Quartey, is rated as the No. 2 junior middleweight by the World Boxing Council.

“This is it and he knows it,” said Ben Lira, Martinez’s trainer. “This fight was my idea. I really wanted to put him into a higher level to see how high he would rise.”

Martinez, 24, has risen quickly considering he didn’t begin boxing until six years ago. He had only 23 amateur fights and Lira sent him to the U.S. nationals after five fights.

So is Martinez ready for the 33-year-old power punching Ankamah, who is 20-6 with 17 knockouts?

“I think a guy like Ankamah will bring out the best in him,” Lira said.

Ankamah has fought most of his career as a welterweight.

On the undercard, heavyweight Javier Mora (2-0, two knockouts) of Westminster will have his toughest test as a professional against James Lester (5-4-1) of Oakland. Middleweight Cesar Avila (6-1, four knockouts) of Westminster will face Ricardo Moreno (1-0) of Los Angeles and junior middleweight Sergio Mora (1-0) of Montebello meets Benito Tzand (1-1-1) of Los Angeles. The undercard begins at 7:30.