This Friday (October 23, 2015) at the Pabellón Pilar Fernández Valderrama in Valladolid, Spain sees the return of former Super Bantamweight World Champion Kiko Martinez (32-6) as he faces Herald Molina (18-12-3). The bout is scheduled for eight rounds and the sport books have placed Martinez as a big-time (-20000) favorite over the journeyman Molina, who pays back at (+5000). There is no over/under line up for this bout. Martinez is returning to his home country of Spain for some home cooking and to get back on track with a few eight round fights. He is on the schedule to fight again on November 14th in another 8 rounder, so he is going to outclass Molina. Martinez’ last fight was a WBA World title fight in England against titleholder Scott Quigg back in July, and the match did not go well for Martinez. That fight saw Martinez knocked out in the second round, so Martinez is coming back in basically three months to avoid a layoff. Martinez held the IBF version of the Super Bantamweight world title for August of 2013 when he defeated Jhonthan Romero until September of 2014 when he lost it to another Briton, Carl Frampton. Martinez defended the belt successfully on two occasions before dropping it to Frampton. Still just 29 years old, Martinez is eager to get back in the title picture and this is just a tune-up fight. As for Molina, he has spent most of his career fighting in smaller weight classes and he has dropped 4 out of his last 5. The Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California also hosts boxing this Friday night, as Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions have a seven fight card planned where the main event will air on Estrella TV in the United States. The main event features undefeated prospect Joseph Diaz (17-0) taking on Ruben Tamayo (25-6-4). There is no over/under for this scheduled 10 round bout, but Diaz is a big (-5000) betting favorite, with Tamayo paying back at (+1670). The co-main event sees uendefeated (18-0) welterweight Frankie Gomez also put on his “0” on the lines as he faces Jorge Silva (21-9-2), though no line is posted yet. Also of note for boxing fans is the professional debut of Marco Magdaleno, the younger brother of professional fighters Diego and Jessie Magdaleno. Though it is not up at the books yet, also expected to get lines for Friday night is the Showtime broadcoast of ShowBox: The New Generation that will air live from the Celebrity Theater. The main event sees undefeated Ro Brant (17-0) take on Louis Rose (13-2-1) for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Title. The co-feature sees promising Heavyweights Jarrell Miller (14-0-1) taking in Akhror Muramilov (16-1) in an eight round bout. Check back at the books later on in the week for more lines for Friday, October 24th.
