Luis Ortiz survives two knockdowns to overcome Charles Martin in six rounds

'King Kong' Luis Ortiz gained pace on his last rally to world honours as he knocked out Charles Martin inside six rounds.

The fight set alight in the first round. After a fairly cagey opening, Martin threw a chopping right hand that sent the Cuban to the canvas. Ortiz rose to his feet but never looked steady. Just like in the first round, Ortiz gained control, pushing Martin back and landing the more significant shots. 

In the closing seconds of the fourth, Martin added another knockdown to his first, this time off a stiff jab.

Ortiz stormed out for the fifth, but the counter punching from Martin overwhelmed the Cuban, landing 20 shots in the fifth, the best of the fight. 

Fast forward to the start of the sixth and Ortiz sent shock waves through Martin as he detonated his left hand to the temple. Martin was out on his feet, unaware of what was to come. A second barrage from Ortiz, but the referee was reluctant to jump in and stop the fight. 

Martin bought himself some time when he strangely got his hand tangled in the ropes, buying precious seconds. A brave minute followed from the American, taking shot after shot, but eventually his bravery wasn't enough as he fell to the canvas for a second time, resulting in the referee calling a halt to the contest.

Ortiz has now won two straight since his seventh round knockout loss in 2019 to Deontay Wilder, who had previously stopped him in ten rounds.

“Southpaw against southpaw is a very difficult fight,” said Ortiz. “In the end, intelligence won the fight.”

On the undercard, Frank Sanchez boxed his way to a shutout victory over Christian Hammer. It was a fairly poor affair between the heavyweights. However, Sanchez did score a knockdown in the dying seconds of the fight and improved his record to 20-0.Jonathan Rice defeated Michael Coffie over 10 rounds. In a repeat of their fight in July, which Rice also won. Gerald Washington fell to another defeat against the tough Ali Demirezen, surely spelling the end of the Americans career.