Heavyweight Champion Prince Charles Martin has been shot in Los Angeles, just a few months after his loss to Anthony Joshua. The boxer, however, is grateful to the police who responded to 911 calls immediately after the incident.
Image: Prince Charles Martin
Prince lost his coveted IBF World Heavyweight crown and had returned to the US with the hope of reviving his career before an attempt was made on his life. He was in the company of an unidentified friend when he engaged in an argument with two armed men, a report reveals.
A media report quotes the victim as saying: “I looked down and saw a pool of blood.
“I said to myself, I gotta get outta here.
“I’m gonna die. I’m gonna bleed to death.”
The boxer says he doesn’t understand why the men decided to shoot him but admits he’s lucky because they missed.
According to Los Angeles Police Department, Martin gave a hot chase to the fugitives in a car before crashing into a lamppost.
The men who attacked Martin had fled after the shooting.
Other reports quote the champion as refuting the police statement, and arguing that “he had been attempting to get away from the scene and to a hospital”.
According to a report from Daily Star, police then took him to a nearby medical center for a surgery on his arm.
“I have to pay respect to the cops. They saved my life,” the American boxer was quoted as saying.
Martin’s injury wasn’t life threatening and the heavyweight boxer is expected to make a full recovery after surgery.
The suspects are yet to be apprehended.
According to The Sweet Science, Charles Martin (23-1-1, 21 KOs) won the vacant IBF World Title with a third round stoppage in the fight against Vyacheslav Glazkov of Ukraine at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on 16 January, 2016.
The umpire announced a stoppage after it became obvious that Glazkov had suffered a torn ACL, an injury thought to have occurred when their feet got tangled and he slipped awkwardly on the stage.
Glazkov’s injury granted Martin an easy win for the title.
Many boxing fans protested afterwards that the bout should have ended as a “no contest” match–a decision that would have kept the title vacant, but good luck to Martin, he won the enviable World Heavyweight Title without throwing meaningful punches.
Image: The wounded American boxer getting hard punches from Anthony Joshua.
Following the title win, the injured boxer fought and lost the prize to Anthony Joshua after only 218 seconds. With this result, Martin’s reign as a world champion lasted just 85 days.
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