Martyniouk on Oct. 20 Fight, Training with Virgil Hunter

By Ryan Maquiñana
BoxingScene.com

Lightweight prospect Stan Martyniouk (11-1, 2 KOs) of Antelope, Calif., is preparing for an Oct. 20 main event against Johnny Frazier (2-9-4) at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, Calif., which is located in the Sacramento area.

“I’m looking forward to getting back in the ring,” Martyniouk told BoxingScene.com on Monday afternoon.  “From what I’ve seen, Frazier’s a counter-puncher so I’ve been getting ready for him and his style.”

Holding training camp in Hayward, Calif., with reigning Trainer of the Year Virgil Hunter, Martyniouk has fully recovered from a separated rib cartilage injury that forced him to pull out of a fight with Javier “Pelos” Garcia (8-2-1, 7 KOs), the nephew of celebrated cornerman Robert Garcia.

“The injury was so bad it hurt when I moved from side-to-side, ran, or did anything,” Martyniouk said.  “Now I’m back and I feel good.  I sparred 18 rounds this week, and I’ve been getting sharp.”

Since his charge Andre Ward’s late-round stoppage of Chad Dawson, Hunter has become a hot commodity in the fight game, as Fernando Guerrero, Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo, and Amir Khan have all stated that they would join the Bay Area trainer’s stable.  At first, Martyniouk was concerned that Hunter would be spread too thin, but has since grown accustomed to the new additions.

“Having all these great fighters around and seeing what they’ve done drives me to work even harder,” Martyniouk said.  “I was already getting good work with Karim [Mayfield] and Mike Dallas, and I can’t wait to work with Khan when he gets here.”

The Oct. 20 card will feature exciting cruiserweight brawler Joe Gumina (3-1, 2 KOs) as well as the pro debuts of 2011 Olympic Trials super heavyweight runner-up LaRon Mitchell of San Francisco and local amateur star Mario Ayala, a national quarterfinalist at 123 pounds.  Tickets start at $50 and can be purchased at Showclix.com.

Ryan Maquiñana was the boxing producer for NBCOlympics.com during London 2012 and writes a weekly column for CSNBayArea.com.  He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Ratings Panel for Ring Magazine. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.