Unbeaten lightweight Frank Martin will face a new oponent, slick Dominican sharpshooter Jackson Mariñez in the ten-round Showtime opener this Saturday, July 9th from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas in a Premier Boxing Champions event. Martin was originally scheduled to fight Panama's Ricardo Núñez, who was forced to withdraw due to visa issues.  The show is headlined by WBC featherweight champion Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo taking on former super bantamweight champion Rey Vargas. Also being aired by SHowtime will be a WBC featherweight eliminator between former 122-pound champion Brandon “The Heartbreaker” Figueroa and Carlos Castro. 

 

The 27 year-old Martin (15-0, 11 KOs) is guided by esteemed trainer Derrick James. Martin ascended the lightweight rankings in 2021 with a pair of quality victories before most recently delivering a New Year’s Day KO over Romero Duno. In 2021, Martin knocked out the previously unbeaten Jerry Perez in April, before earning a unanimous decision over Ryan Kielczweski in August. Originally from Indianapolis, Martin now trains in the Dallas-area under the guidance of James alongside unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.

 

A native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Mariñez (19-2, 7 KOs) has fought professionally since 2016 and won his first 19 bouts, including four victories in 2019 that culminated with a second-round TKO of Yardley Armando Cruz in his U.S. debut. The 31-year old’s first blemish came in a controversial decision loss to Rolando Romero in August 2020 and he most recently dropped a contest to former IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey in February 2021.