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Javier Martinez: Better With Boxing | Canelo vs Crawford
Despite Facing Ups And Downs Throughout His Career, Boxing Has Been The Constant That Keeps Javier Martinez Grounded
Javier Martinez didn’t expect to be fighting in front of over 60,000 fans at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday. Truth be told, he didn’t know if he’d be fighting at all after a 2022 loss to Jose Daniel Dzul Hoil.
But here he is, ready, willing and able to not just show up in Las Vegas but upset highly touted Japanese prospect Reito Tsutsumi.
“I'm ready,” said Martinez. “I’ve been dreaming about this for a long time. The dream was almost fading away, and then I got the call and man, it's unbelievable with the timing. I think everything works in God's timing, so I'm happy about the timing and everything. I think it makes sense.”
It almost didn’t happen, as his car was stolen, with his phone in it, when he was going to be presented with the Tsutsumi fight. Luckily, his manager found Martinez’s brother, and he delivered the news.
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“You would think it'd be full of excitement,” said Martinez, who had just gotten a job as a bartender.
“It was a little bit of a bittersweet moment because I finally got the job that I wanted, I finally got done with these course classes that I paid for, and I'm sort of excited and finally at peace knowing that I don't need boxing in my life to be healthy and be a good person and be happy with my life. I found God and I found something I can do that I enjoy, and they call me with this opportunity. So it's like boxing pulls me back in.”
The 29-year-old Dallas native isn’t complaining, because he’s about to engage in the biggest fight of his pro career, with a chance to change his life forever. For the longest time, he assumed he’d be here, especially after being signed by Golden Boy Promotions on the heels of a long and successful amateur career that saw him compile a 180-20 record.
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But that relationship didn’t work out, and then when he lost his first fight after starting his stay in the punch for pay ranks at 7-0, he was at a crossroads, not just in the ring, but in life.
“Before the fight in Mexico (against Hoil), I couldn't fight for a year,” he said. “And so I got a job in construction and it was one of the most depressing years of my life. I started working construction, then I started drinking. I became an alcoholic.
"I started drinking every night. I started going out every night, I started hanging out with women all the time. I eventually became a narcissistic, bitter person. My parents would look for me sometimes and I would be on a bender and a lot of people tried to help me out in my life, and it seemed like nobody could help me. And it seemed to me like boxing was the only thing that would give me a grip on my life.”
It wasn’t even about the fighting at this point. It was the peace that he found in the gym. Unfortunately, it took him three years to get that peace, when he returned to the gym in January.
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“I just wanted to have more peace of mind and was trying to have control of my life a little bit,” Martinez said. “And I know that the only thing that kept me away from the streets and from the bad habits was boxing. So, for a very long time when I was out for three years, I was searching for peace and a better life for myself.
"I was dealing with a lot of demons and that led me to God, and it took me a while to sort of get myself together. I was getting better throughout the years and when I thought I was finally good enough to get back to the gym and focus, I decided to come back around the middle of January and then my brother told a manager about me. So then he went ahead and signed me two weeks later and he gave me a fight date.”
Martinez lost that fight in April via split decision to Wayne Lawrence, and while he didn’t expect to be getting a call to fight in Las Vegas this weekend, that was okay. If the call came, great, if it didn’t, he found that peace he was looking for.
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“After the (Lawrence) fight, I was going to quit boxing,” he said. “I was going to quit because of the pressure of being about to turn 30 years old and I don't really have a career for myself. And that's something I wanted to find, something that I can identify with if it wasn't going to be through boxing, because obviously the pay wasn't going to be consistent. So I wanted to sort of have something in my life that can keep me grounded and have all the pieces of my life together.”
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After going to bartending school, he found the job that he wanted. The next day he got a fight. He took it. And now he’s going to give it his best shot again.
“When I beat this guy, I'm not even going to be shocked,” said Martinez. “I think I have way more experience than him. He's a good fighter, I think he'll be a world champion eventually if he continues his path, but, like I said, I wouldn't be shocked if I win. And they raise my hand, I’m definitely going to stay grounded.”