Carl Jammes Martin looks to amp training as he eyes PH title shot

Carl Jammes Martin is about to tweak his training ahead of a potential national title shot. Pigeon Lobien/PNA (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—Rising boxing star Carl Jammes Martin is aware that his possible next opponent could be one of his most toughest yet as he now eyes the Philippine super bantamweight title.

So he said on Friday night that his team is now looking to take his training to the next level.

"Sobra ang paghahanda namin dahil yung next opponent na nabanggit sa akin ng Team Wonder Boy, medyo sobrang veteran kasi nakalaban na ng mga world champions," Martin told the Sports on Air podcast.

Should plans push through, the 21-year-old Martin, currently holding a perfect 17-0 record with 15 knockouts, is set to face no less than reigning national champ Mark Geraldo next.

The 29-year-old Geraldo has already fought 50 times, holding a record of 38 wins, 19 by knockout, nine losses, and three draws.

While the name of Geraldo is not as popular as the likes of Jerwin Ancajas, the former actually gave the latter his only loss so far in his illustrious career in 2012.

Geraldo has also fought a young Nordine Oubaali way before he became the World Boxing Council bantamweight champ and former Ancajas challenger McJoe Arroyo.

Like Martin, Geraldo is also on a roll, winning his last four bouts all by knockouts, including a victory against Virgel Vitor for the then vacant Philippine super bantam belt and another against Lorence Rosas in his first title defense, right after his 2017 loss to Oubaali, but he never got to fight last year mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This could put Martin, who knocked out Joe Tejones in his debut at the 122-pound division at the boxing hall of the Biñan Football Stadium on Feb. 20, at some sort of an advantage in terms of conditioning.

But Martin is still not taking Geraldo lightly.

"Adjust na lang sa training at kung ano pa ang pwedeng maitulong sa akin ng coach ko at Team Wonder Boy," Martin further said.

Martin's camp has yet to set a date for his next bout and on whether he is indeed fighting Geraldo next, but he said that he is preparing for it.

"Continuous lang ang training ko para kung may masabi sila, ready po ako," Martin further said.

The Games and Amusements Board has yet to release its updated national rankings in the super bantamweight level, but if BoxRec is to be considered, Martin's win against Tejones could put him at number four.

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