Frank Martin obviously backs Errol Spence Jr. to beat Terence Crawford in their upcoming welterweight showdown.
Martin respects Crawford, but the lightweight contender just thinks that the welterweight champion whose company promotes him will provide a much tougher challenge than any of the seven welterweights Crawford has knocked out since the three-weight world champion moved up to the 147-pound division five years ago.
“They ain’t Errol Spence Jr.,” Martin told Showtime’s Brian Custer during a press conference Thursday in Las Vegas. “You know, those guys ain’t Errol Spence Jr. You know, Terence is a good fighter. You know, but I feel like this fight is gonna boil down to who just like can figure who out in the fight. And, you know, wit’ our coach that we got, Derrick James, you know, we always have a backup plan for everything. So, figuring anybody out ain’t nothing to us.”
Dallas’ James, who won numerous “Trainer of the Year” awards for 2022, will guide Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) through his own main event Saturday night at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The Detroit native is scheduled to square off against Armenia’s Artem Harutyunyan (12-0, 7 KOs) in a 12-round, 135-pound bout that will headline a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader scheduled to start at 10 p.m. EDT (7 p.m. PDT).
Two weeks later, Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) can make history by becoming the first fully unified welterweight champion of boxing’s four-belt era. The DeSoto, Texas native will defend his IBF, WBA and WBC crowns against Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs), who owns the WBO belt.
Oddsmakers have installed Crawford as a slight favorite to win their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event. Martin nevertheless believes Spence will leave the ring at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with four welterweight titles.
“I just feel like all the little things [will make a difference],” Martin told BoxingScene.com. “Derrick makes sure we pinpoint and are on point with a lotta the little things that add up in a 12-round fight, those championship fights, just makin’ sure we all the way on point with the smaller details. I feel like that’s gonna be the major role in this fight.”
Martin is listed by most sportsbooks as at least a 12-1 favorite to beat Harutyunyan, a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist. Their main event will be immediately preceded by a 10-round, 142-pound co-feature in which Dominican southpaw Elvis Rodriguez (14-1-1, 12 KOs) will box Ukraine’s Viktor Postol (31-4, 12 KOs), a former WBC super lightweight champion.
The telecast will open with a 10-round battle between unbeaten welterweight prospect Freudis Rojas (10-0, 10 KOs), a Las Vegas native, and Mexican veteran Diego Sanchez (19-2, 16 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.