LAS VEGAS – Frank Martin and Nahir Albright thrilled the crowd by engaging in a toe-to-toe battle, and then the judges brought the groans of labeling the bout a draw.
Tim Cheatham, Max DeLuca and John McCarthy each scored the 140lbs bout 95-95, with Martin restoring some cheers by announcing, “We can go after it again in a rematch.”
It was the thrilling effectiveness of Albright, 17-2-1, in the 10th round that sealed the outcome against former lightweight title challenger Martin, 19-1-1.
“I was prepared for a war, and that’s what it was,” Albright said.
Albright hammered Martin with a thunderous combination in the 10th, forcing Martin to hold on so desperately that the pair tumbled into the ropes.
Twice more Albright lost his mouthpiece, giving Martin valuable seconds to regain his composure and rest before it was re-inserted.
“I can do a lot better,” Martin said. “There were things I didn’t capitalize upon. Credit to him for bringing more than I expected.”
Cornered by International Boxing Hall of Fame fighter Buddy McGirt, the southpaw Martin was resolute in his stance and delivery while beating Albright to the punch in the early going.
Counter lefts stung Albright in the second, so he directed rights to Martin’s body in the third. Martin kept landing in the fourth, a hard left to the jaw being most notable.
Martin stepped up his attack on the reeling Albright in the fifth. Unanswered lefts peppered Albright in the sixth.
Albright revealed there was some lying in wait transpiring when he unleashed a flurry on Martin in the seventh, but Martin closed the round strongly to slow the progress.
Martin sought to close impressively by rattling Albright with telling blows in the ninth, knocking loose Albright’s mouthpiece on one of the punches.
Martin sought to continue recovering from his 2024 knockout loss to then-WBA lightweight titleholder Gervonta “Tank” Davis after delivering a Knockout of the Year contender to defeat Rances Barthelemy in December.
Managed by former three-belt welterweight champion Errol Spence Jnr and training in Texas, Martin said before in fight week that he was open to bouts with WBO top-ranked Keyshawn Davis and belt holder Shakur Stevenson.
Instead, he will get Albright again and, like the fans saddled with the draw Saturday, he has no choice but to accept it.
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
