Martz facing major decisions

After scoring a six-round majority decision over Jonathan Hamm of Los Angeles, Daniel “The Mountain” Martz now has some big decisions to make.

The 6 foot 7-1/2 inch heavyweight defeated former U.S. National Amateur Champion Hamm (7-2, 5 KOs) during their swing fight on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” in Rockingham Park in Salem, N.H.

Taking charge early, Martz (9-1-1, 6 KOs) caught Hamm with a short uppercut on the inside at the end of the third round, a punch that broke his opponent’s jaw and allowed the Clarksburg, W.Va., native to wrest control of the fight.

Two judges agreed by scoring the fight 59-55 and 58-56 in favor of Martz with the other judge checking in at 57-57.

“With no amateur experience and being paired against someone like Hamm, a fighter who has made a name for himself in the amateur ranks, I’d say that this was definitely a big win for me,” Martz said. “I thought that I fought a good all-around fight but again, I’ve only been fighting for barely a year and a half so I hope to keep on improving.

“The setting, and the fact that the fight was part of ESPN2’s ‘Friday Night Fights,’ was all the motivation I needed to do my very best.”

Martz struggles to get to Youngstown due to job commitments back home, but still finds a way to get to the Southside Boxing Club at least three days a week to work with trainer Jack Loew.

After the fight and during their Saturday return flight home, Loew and manager Patrick Nelson gave Martz an earful about training full-time, an edict that would help align their fighter with some of the top-notch pugilists in the heavyweight division.

“For the little experience that Daniel had going into the fight, he did extremely well. His straight punches — one-two and one-one-two — were really working and quite frankly beat Hamm with his hands,” Loew said. “There was plenty of beef in that ring, but I also felt as if he could have gone to the body more, especially at the beginning. When he did, he fared extremely well.

“After beating a fighter like Jonathan [Hamm], Daniel has to seriously consider becoming a full-time boxer because only the strong survive in this sport. There’s quite a bit of untapped talent there and I have had a long talk with him about how quickly he can move up the ladder, especially in the heavyweight division.”

Despite no knockdowns, Martz was clearly the busier fighter and the one who landed harder shots throughout the fight.

“This win now gives ‘The Mountain’ legitimacy in the heavyweight division,” Nelson said. “Knocking off the former U.S. amateur champion answers a lot of the critics who may have questioned his abilities and skills. We’ll now look to move forward and fight better competition in hopes of moving Daniel into a world ranking.”

Healing is now Martz’s top priority, Loew said.

“Daniel needs to get his hands healthy and that is his top priority,” Loew said. “I said it before and I will say it again, Daniel is a diamond in the rough and a fighter dedicated to training and getting better. While still learning the game, he’s still the one fighter that listens to what you have to say in order to become a better boxer.”

Mart said his immediate goal is to reach double-digit wins.

“We’ll then see where I go from there as we look to get better fights,” Martz said.

Nelson plans to have a fight for Martz by late September or early October.

“He just needs some time right now for himself after such a big win,” Nelson said.

Greg Gulas covers combat sports for The Vindicator. Email him at sports@vindy.com.