Kid Galahad says “the time is right” to move up to super-featherweight after losing his world title last November.
Galahad was riding the crest of a wave before making the first defence of his IBF featherweight title against the Spaniard. The Sheffield fighter put in a career best performance dismantling Jazza Dickens to take home the vacant belt at Matchroom’s Fight Camp in August.
Fighting Martinez looked on paper, something of a foregone conclusion but the veteran still carries heavy-handed power and proved it by stopping the odds-on favourite in six rounds to become a two-weight world champion.
The 31-year-old had been controlling the fight before getting caught and dropped in round five.
“He [Martinez] was getting battered,” Galahad told The Sheffield Star.
“The reason he won is because I probably shouldn’t have been fighting at that weight. Eventually that happens, eventually it catches up with you.
“The weight was what beat me. I have been in the ring with bigger punchers than him. I have been thinking about moving up for the last two or three years because the weight was getting too tight.”
Martinez now makes the first defence his new title against former champion Josh Warrington on March 26. The bout is a rematch of their 2017 fight which the ‘Leeds Warrior’ won.
Galahad hopes to return in March too at his new weight of 130lbs.
“I just feel like the time is right,” he said.
“I’ll be big and stronger at that weight. I’m looking forward to being a two-weight world champion.”