The three reasons why Frank Martin has the edge over Nahir Albright

Frank ‘The Ghost’ Martin took nearly 18 months to rebuild from suffering his first professional loss via an eighth-round knockout at the hands of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.

When Martin returned to the ring in December, he made a late bid for Knockout of the Year with a chilling fourth-round evisceration of Rances Barthelemy. The KO came on a straight left hand that detonated onto the Cuban fighter’s chin.

Just like that, ‘The Ghost’ made his splashy return, introducing himself as a threat at super lightweight. Martin (19-1, 13 KOs) will look to entrench himself deeper into the division Saturday night when he clashes with Nahir Albright at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as part of the Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia undercard, and live and exclusive on DAZN PPV and DAZN Ultimate Tier.

The bout will be part of the main card headlined by Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia.

BUY NOW: Barrios vs. Garcia PPV for $69.99 / £24.99 or via DAZN Ultimate Tier to get PPVs included in your subscription 

Albright (17-2, 7 KOs) is coming off a majority decision over Kelvin Davis in June.

Will Martin deliver another highlight-reel victory? Or will Albright produce the biggest win of his own career?

I've been examining who has the edge heading into this fight.

Boxing Styles

Frank ‘The Ghost’ Martin makes steady, hard deposits to the body, finding his range, sapping opponents’ energy and forcing them to lower their guards.

The southpaw, who fights out of Dallas, Texas, also possesses a loaded, potent left hand that can give anybody problems at 140 pounds. Plus, Martin has the kind of deft footwork which could force opponents to turn, giving ‘The Ghost’ angles he needs to explode.

His style will be up against an orthodox fighter in Nahir Albright who steps into a snappy jab and pieces together combinations with right hands.

Albright is skilled in finding his target whether he is throwing a left hook around the guard or following a jab with a right uppercut all within the flow of his offense. Martin’s patience and power are slightly enough to gain the edge over Albright’s persistence in this clash of styles. But this one is close.

Edge: Martin

Power

Martin crumbling Barthelemy with a cold-cocked, straight left hand demonstrated his punching power, putting the division on notice of the pop in his punch.

The knockout served as his first stoppage win since parking Jackson Martinez in July 2022. Like Martin, Albright has one successful outing at super lightweight. But the power surge rides with 'The Ghost.'

Edge: Martin

Mental Warfare

Martin and Albright are coming off two very different results.

For Martin, violently knocking out a former champ in Barthelemy was just the boost he needed to once again be brimming with confidence.

For Albright, the majority decision over Davis added to his win column but perhaps failed to make the statement desired.

The mental warfare edge resides slightly with Martin who launched his rebuilding mode with a bang.

Edge: Martin

Who has the edge in Martin vs. Albright?

Martin splashed back into boxing causing tremors with his knockout win last December.

With this short turnaround, Martin delivering another highlight reel victory will make him ‘The Ghost’ of boxing’s future and a real threat to titleholders at 140 pounds.

He gets the 3-0 edge from me, though Albright is pesky, skilled and determined with enough to his fight game to tilt the rounds in his favor.

Watch Barrios vs. Garcia only on DAZN PPV

The  WBC welterweight world title is on the line this Saturday - Feb 21 - as Mario Barrios and Ryan Garcia go toe-to-toe, exclusively on DAZN. Buy the PPV as a one-off cost or get included with DAZN Ultimate Tier. 

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