Julio Cesar Martinez Pulls Out Of Another Title Bout

WBC flyweight titlist Julio Cesar Martinez, who was due to face interim titleholder McWilliams Arroyo in a mandatory rematch on Saturday night at Tech Port Arena in San Antonio, pulled out of the bout on Wednesday due to an unspecified illness, Matchroom Boxing announced.

Martinez-Arroyo II was scheduled to serve as the co-feature on the DAZN card headlined by WBC junior bantamweight titlist and San Antonio native Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez making a his first defense against former champion and mandatory challenger Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

FACE OFF 👀@210bam 👑 @srisaket_ssr

WBC World Super-Flyweight Title on the line!#RodriguezRungvisai pic.twitter.com/D8JrwfaFEB

— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) June 23, 2022

“(With) deep regret the WBC confirms that WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez has pulled out of the fight vs. interim WBC champion McWilliams Arroyo. Exact details are yet to be disclosed,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman wrote on Twitter. “WBC will be addressing this terrible situation.”

Martinez (18-2, 14 KOs), 27, of Mexico, and Arroyo (21-4, 16 KOs), 36, of Puerto Rico, fought in November 2021 in a wild bout in which they were knocked down in the first round. Arroyo got dropped again in the second, but the shootout ended as a third-round no contest because Arroyo was unable to continue after being cut by an accidental head butt.

Hear more of my thoughts on this bout being called off, but also, the entire Matchroom card from San Antonio on the latest “Big Fight Weekend Preview” with host T.J. Rives. Just click play below for our previews and analysis

Martinez, who has made a habit of pulling out of fights on short notice, including previously against Arroyo, was returning to flyweight to defend his title and looking to rebound from a lopsided decision loss after having filled in on short notice against the legendary Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in a junior bantamweight fight on March 5th.

Matchroom Boxing said that with Martinez-Arroyo off, a 10-rounder between featherweight Raymond Ford (11-0-1, 6 KOs), 23, of Camden, New Jersey, and Richard Medina (13-0, 7 KOs), 21, of San Antonio, would be elevated to the main card.