Troy Isley, Javier Martinez to Renew Their Amateur Rivalry in Pro Ranks

When undefeated middleweights Troy Isley and Javier Martinez meet in the ring Friday night, they will be renewing a four-fight rivalry from their amateur days.

It’s fitting, after the rounds they shared in the vested code, that they step up to 10-round level against each other in the professional ranks. Isley (12-0, 5 KOs) and Martinez (10-0-1, 3 KOs) will face off at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas as part of the main card ESPN+ streaming broadcast.

Martinez followed a 2018 victory in the USA National Championships to beat Isley again in the 2019 Olympic trials, but he ultimately didn’t make the team. The fight evokes memories of James DeGale versus George Groves, two talented young pros with amateur history risking their undefeated records early in their careers.

“This fight means everything to me,” Isley said. “This fight is a little get-back; he won the last two [fights]. I am here to show I am different, that there are levels.”

Martinez responded, “The feeling is mutual. This is the pros, and I feel I am better at this stage.

“I never ducked nobody, they offered me the fight, so I took it.”

Isley’s last two wins – defeats of the upset-minded Marcos Hernandez and Vladimir Hernandez – have cemented him as a strong prospect at junior middleweight. Vladimir Hernandez, you might remember, later went on to stop Guido Schramm on ProBox TV in a contender for knockout of the year.

It was before those wins – two fights ago – that Isley, 25, changed trainers, from longtime coach Kay Koroma to Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, the same team that built Terence Crawford and works with Keyshawn Davis.

“[Martinez] is in the way of my dreams,” Isley said. “I have been looking great with Brian McIntyre; he has brought some new changes to my game, and I am not the same fighter I was in the amateurs. He is going to see that Friday night.”

Martinez endured a draw with tough regional talent Joeshon James last May but regrouped with a first-round knockout of Isaiah Wise six months later. A 28-year-old southpaw, Martinez, who trains with Robert Garcia in Riverside, California, also had to overcome a knockdown in his sixth bout before outpointing Donte Stubbs in March 2022.

“I feel like when I get put with good opponents, I do better,” Martinez said. “I am confident in myself.”

Isley’s not having any of it. “I hear him say that in every fight,” he said. “But honestly, he looked the same in every fight. Honestly, I am the better fighter and I am going to show that.”