Martinez Comes Home for ‘Redemption’

By Glen Rosales
Special to the SUN

Antonio “Tone” Martinez is finally coming home to box.

The 39-year-old Española native hasn’t stepped foot in a ring this decade and he thought that part of his life was behind him.

“My last fight was Nov. 1, 2019, then COVID hit and shut everything down,” Martinez said. “I felt that I was at my best and I was really fighting at my best ability. Then all the cards were canceled and a lot didn’t happen for 1½ to two years. Then I broke my wrist and had some injuries to my hand and I missed another 1½ to two years.”

Then life spiraled in a direction away from the ring, which had its bonuses.

“When I was boxing, I never got to enjoy food,” Martinez said with a chuckle. “I started enjoying all the food I missed when I was boxing. I over indulged. I say COVID killed boxing and my waistline.”

But all Martinez needed to whet his appetite was to step into one of promoter Pat Holmes’s prior fight cards at the Ohkay Hotel Casino and have his legion of local fans encourage him to return to the sweet science.

“It was the Nov. 1 card and Leanna (Martinez) was the main event and I ran into the fans and the boxing community and they were all telling me I should come back and do it again,” Martinez said.

It actually was not an easy decision.

“I thought about it for three weeks,” he said. “I talked with Pat in November and asked when the next card was and I told him January was too soon because I needed to get back in shape, to get back to it. Then he told me he had another one in April and I agreed.”

So Martinez (11-5-4) is headlining Holmes’s April 18 “Redemption” event at the casino against long-time pro Raymond “Bad Boy” Chacon (11-74-1) of Torrance, California, in a six-round bout at 145 pounds.

And he’s doing so at home, where he went to grade school at Hernandez Elementary, Carlos F. Vigil Middle and graduated from Española Valley High in 2004.

“This is a big one, to fight at home,” Martinez said. “I fought at Buffalo Thunder and that’s close. But, Ohkay Casino, that’s close to the heart of Española and that’s home.”

And nothing can beat that hometown love.

“It’s a great feeling. It’s amazing,” he said. “Buffalo Thunder had some amazing crowds, same thing when I fought in Albuquerque. Fans come out and support, they always do. But now this is home and I have to protect home. I have to be victorious.”

Just getting to this point, however, can be considered a victory, as he’s dropped almost 45 lbs. to get to the weight limit.

It’s not as if he turned to blubber over the years — quite the contrary. Martinez has remained in the gym, pumping weights and adding body mass and strength.

“This is the strongest I’ve ever felt,” he said. “My strength is definitely better. And my speed has gotten better.”

The big change was getting back to the grind and all that entails, Martinez said.

“I would say mentally, having to acclimate myself, not only to the diet, but the long days,” he said. “I have to get up at 4 a.m., get ready for work and I work in Los Alamos. Then get out of work. I train in Santa Fe, so then I drive to Santa Fe, and then drive back home when I’m done, so they are really long days.”

And the diet, well, “I’ve had so much chicken, I’ve had to look under my arms to make sure I don’t have any feathers,” Martinez said. “But my wife has done a really good job of mixing it up, giving me chicken every which way that’s healthy.”

Now in the final weeks, it’s just a matter of making the last adjustments in the ring.

“There is a ton of rust that will build up in that amount of time,” Martinez said. “I felt very rusty at first. My mind would tell me to move there but my body wouldn’t do it right away and I would think, ‘Am I going to be able to do this?’ It made me second guess because I’m old for the sport. I love that I’ve come this far, but I needed to push to get that rust off. But the rust is off. If it’s not completely off, there’s only one layer there.”

Other fights on the “Redemption” card include:

• Co-main event: Eduardo Piñon, of Santa Fe, against Quentin DeLeon, of Albuquerque, at 118 lbs.

• Rolyn Nez, of Bloomfield, against Ephraim Martinez of Lubbock, Texas, at 147 lbs.

• Aiseah Achesah, of Santa Fe, against Yorhighness Rezzaq, of Tulsa, at heavyweight.

• Jerome Rivera, of Santa Fe, against Javier Saenz, of Albuquerque, at 135 lbs.

• Jorge Villarruel, of Albuquerque, against Isaac Barrientos at 120 lbs.

• Mark Morgenstern of Albuquerque, will make pro debut against an undetermined opponent at 154 lbs.