INGLEWOOD, California – Ryan Martin had the athleticism, boxing ability, height and reach to make his eight-round bout with Cesar Villarraga an easy outing on the undercard of the Roman Gonzalez-Carlos Cuadras fight on Saturday at The Forum.

However, the unbeaten lightweight prospect from Cleveland, Ohio, wanted to go toe to toe with Villarraga after dropping the late-sub from Colombia in Round 4.

Prior to the halfway point of the fight, Martin (16-0, 9 knockouts), who won by scores of 78-74 and 79-72 (twice), was in firm command, stalking Villarraga (9-2, 4 KOs) behind a high guard, crisp jab, one-two combinations and a vicious body attack.

Beginning in Round 5, Martin’s jab fell off and the tall, rangy 135 pounder elected to stand and trade with Villarraga, who got off well to the Ohioan’s body but wasn’t able to land head shots of note.

In the other notable non-televised undercard bout of the HBO Championship broadcast that featured Gonzalez-Cuadras and the Jesus Soto Karass-Yoshihiro Kamegai rematch, female prospect Seniesa Estrada (8-0, 1 KO) shutout game but outclassed Nancy Franco (14-10-2, 4 KOs), of Guadalajara, over eight rounds in a flyweight bout that was entertaining despite the one-sided scorecards (80-72 all for the East Los Angeles native).