Usually when you ask a defeated fighter about the prospect of securing a rematch, they respond quickly and unequivocally and will say to you, “Yes, I would love nothing more.” 

Some fighters, however, know how the game works and know that expressing interest in a rematch is quite different from being granted one, particularly if the first fight was close, controversial, or offered inconvenient evidence of their threat level. For these fighters, the response to the question of rematches tends to be less animated and less certain. Someone like Sandor Martin, for example, will only laugh when asked about the possibility of rematching Alberto Puello, the man who beat him by split decision in a WBC junior welterweight title fight two weeks ago.

“For my part, I want this opportunity, of course,” Martin told BoxingScene. “But there is no rematch in the contract. If in the future I can do the rematch, I would 100 per cent want to do it. 

“If I fight all my rematches, I have a lot of work to do; years of work. 

“It’s amazing that after my defeats I have the recognition of the fans in boxing. I got a lot of recognition after the Teofimo Lopez fight and it is the same with the Puello fight. The fans know what they saw in those two fights.”

No stranger to disappointment, Martin has now twice come up short in the eyes of ringside judges and on both occasions received praise and support in the aftermath. Against Lopez, in 2022, many felt he did enough to defeat the American and head back to Spain with the biggest scalp of his career. Then, two weeks ago against Puello, there were plenty who felt Martin deserved to win the world title he has been chasing now for so long.  

“It was a close fight, I know it, but I thought I won,” he said. “I closed the rounds better, I put the pressure on, and for me I won the fight 115-113. I accept the result; it was a close fight. He’s the champion and I am fighting in his home. But when I walked to the dressing room from the ring all the people were saying the same: ‘You were robbed! You won the fight!’ I had shock in my mind at the time, but after seeing the fight on the TV, I saw what they saw. 

“In the ring I didn’t know whether I had won or lost the fight. But one judge [Don Trella] only gave four rounds in my favour. In the first six rounds, I won four of them. It’s impossible to lose all the remaining rounds. I won the last round, too. That’s the biggest mistake in this fight, how it was scored. I can accept the score of 115-113 in favour of Puello. But I don’t accept the other judge’s card [Trella’s 116-112].”

Once a fighter becomes familiar with seeing their fate decided by ringside judges, and ultimately being left disappointed, they can choose to react in any number of ways. They might, for instance, do all they can to change their style and ensure that they and only they decide the outcome of their next fight. Or they might simply become bitter and resentful and blame other people for their inability to achieve what they want to achieve in the sport. 

As for Martin, 42-4 (15), he takes a different approach to falling short in the opinion of others. 

“The decision of the judges is not important to me,” he explained. “What is important to me is the opinion of my coach and the opinion of the people. I am the champion of the people now. I don’t have the belt but I have the recognition and respect of the boxing fans. That is so important to me. I have a good name now in the USA and I will be working hard to get another opportunity to become world champion. 

“I have two options: stay crying and retire, or stop crying, accept it, and continue to work on becoming world champion. One day I will be world champion, 100 per cent. I have another attempt and will have another opportunity. I work so hard in the gym. My ambition and my motivation are the same. My goal is still to become world champion. Nobody will help me, or make it easy for me, but I have to go to the front of the queue again, with all my hurt, and become world champion.”

Despite losing against Puello in a title fight, Martin remains high in the world rankings and is young enough, at 31, to still be confident of getting another shot. However, knowing that his performance against Teofimo Lopez in 2022 did as much harm to Martin’s career as good, one wonders what impact his impressive showing against Puello will have in terms of enticing those around Martin to fight the smooth Spanish southpaw in the future. 

“I am in second position in the WBC ratings,” he said. “Number one is Dalton Smith and number three is Isaac Cruz and both of those are good fights for me. I don’t have a problem fighting either of these names. I am motivated for this and maybe I will get the chance to fight in an eliminator. That could be soon.”

How soon is anyone’s guess, but Martin, inactive for the whole of 2024, is not looking to mope or wallow following the loss against Puello. Instead, he wants to continue this momentum and treat what happened in Brooklyn as not a setback but a lesson, something from which he can quickly move on. 

“I have a little injury in my ear, because I got hit with an elbow, and a little injury in my left hand, but other than that I am good and recovering well,” he said. “I went back to the gym this week and I want to box again before the summer. I need to stay in the ring. If I can do three more fights before the end of the year, that’s better for me. I didn’t fight at all in 2024 – for a lot of reasons – and that was so hard for me because I am a boxer who needs to stay in the ring. That’s my work. That’s my life. I need to fight.”