‘Prince’ Charles Martin on fighting Luis Ortiz and watching Anthony Joshua’s loss: ‘What goes around comes around – karma’ | Boxing News

‘Prince’ Charles Martin has had a sleepless night and feels grouchy but he insists it was not due to overthinking his return to the ring.

“There isn’t a grey hair on my head,” he laughs.

There was once a crown sitting atop Martin’s impeccable dreadlocks, when he waltzed to the ring as the defending world heavyweight champion to face challenger Anthony Joshua.

But no more.

A five-and-a-half year rollercoaster later, Martin has left behind his unwanted tag as the second-shortest reigning champion ever. He has quietly re-established himself, and a victory over Luis Ortiz on January 1 would be his best ever.

The man who survived a shooting and released a hip-hop album around his three-month stint as IBF champion insists that age and experience have matured him into a more dangerous proposition.

“People should know that my head is in a good place,” he tells Sky Sports. “I live a healthy lifestyle, man. I take care of my kids and my family.

“I come into training camp at the right weight, the weight that I will fight at. I’m active every day, I’m happy.

“I work out in my garage even when I’m not in the boxing gym. Then when I come into the boxing gym they say: ‘Woah!'”

Fast food was always Martin’s vice.

“My body is so tremendous and remarkable that I would eat a ‘Jack in the Box’ then immediately spar eight rounds,” he shakes his head.

“But I can’t do that now. You have to pick your poison, stay logical. I’m getting older.

“I used to eat ‘Krispy Kreme’ doughnuts. After a fight, I ate cheesecake. Now? I don’t touch that stuff. I don’t go near greasy stuff.”

During Martin’s rebuild from that defeat to Joshua in 2016, he spent time training alongside Andy Ruiz Jr. He watched his friend become Mexico’s first-ever heavyweight champion by shocking Joshua.

He then barely saw Ruiz Jr in the gym over the next six months before the titles were conceded back.

Martin lives with his own ghosts about the brevity of his time at boxing’s pinnacle and re-lived the experience through Ruiz Jr’s travails.

Asked whether indiscipline cost Ruiz Jr, Martin says: “Absolutely, that was so evident. He wasn’t on it. We all saw it, everybody saw it. He had too much going on around him.”

Fascinatingly Martin is now trained by Manny Robles – the man who sat glumly after being in Ruiz Jr’s corner for the rematch with Joshua. Robles was fuming as Ruiz Jr blamed “partying” for his defeat then later told Sky Sports: “You can’t convince someone to want something.”

Perhaps Robles is the perfect fit for a newly energised Martin who, now aged 35, is coming off a career-best knockout of Gerald Washington.

“Some fighters become disciplined too late,” Martin says. “But the window hasn’t closed on me yet.”

He has watched his old nemesis Joshua lose twice, first to Ruiz Jr and also to Oleksandr Usyk.

“Rumours spread that the dude was hurt,” Martin says of Joshua’s first defeat. “I was hurt [before I fought Joshua].

“What goes around comes around. It’s called karma.

“I looked bad against Joshua when I was already hurt. Then he got caught by Andy when he was already hurt. Karma.

“I’ll never know, and the world will never know, what would have happened against Joshua if I wasn’t badly hurt 10 days before our fight.

“Andy got a lucky punch. Andy has no pop. He’s fast but has no power.”

Martin has always maintained that he isn’t haunted by that loss to Joshua, the first time that Britain’s heavyweight hero became a world champion, but his voice raises and his language becomes colourful every time he discusses it.

“It will happen,” he says about revenge. “He’s also got two Ls now. It ain’t for nothin’. It ain’t for the money.

“You get one up on me? I’ll see you later. I’m from St Louis – if you get one up on me, I’ll come back around the block and get one up on you!

“I just want a fair shake.”

Were his three months as IBF heavyweight champion a happy memory?

Martin shrugs: “It was cool. But I’m normal. Stuff doesn’t excite me.

“To somebody who never had nothin’, it changed my life. I bought clothes, I bought jewellery, of course.

“I was attached to the wrong people. There are weirdos out there. I wasn’t going to go on any crazy splurges.

“I was put on a vegan diet! But I wasn’t informed about it. People thought I was [acting weird] but I wasn’t – I was just on a vegan diet!

“I didn’t do any crazy stuff before I got shot. I won’t have to go through that stuff, next time.”

The past two years have reminded Martin of what he truly wants from life.

“The pandemic was beneficial because I saw life without boxing.

“I have always had ups and downs, trials and tribulations, a rollercoaster. My whole career I have said: ‘I hate boxing, I don’t want to do this any more, I want to retire’.

“I would threaten my manager and my coaches! It was because I never knew what I wanted to do.

“But getting a taste of being off for a year made me realise that I don’t want boxing to be over yet.

“I have made the decision: ‘Yes, I do want to box’.”

Martin is the No 1 ranked contender by the IBF. Usyk is expected to defend the IBF, WBA and WBO belts in a rematch with Joshua next year, and the prospect of an undisputed title fight against WBC king Tyson Fury always exists, but Martin is suddenly in the thick of it.

“Charles isn’t looking past Luis Ortiz,” his manager Mike Borao says. “They are two of the most avoided heavyweights in the world for a reason.

“However, a win for Charles on January 1 – his second IBF elimination bout – makes an IBF world title opportunity likely in 2022.”

Martin beams with delight.

“Whoever wants to step into the ring with this big ol’ dangerous southpaw? I’ll KO them all then ride off into the sunset!”

He has already ridden off into the sunset once, and it ended badly, he is reminded by Sky Sports…

“But this time,” Martin gets serious. “I’ve got to do it the right way.”