Exclusive
DIFFERENT BALL GAME
My cousin is NFL star but I gave up football dream for boxing… now I face Gervonta Davis in a life-changing fight
American was a late bloomer in boxing - as his mom previously prevented it
FRANK MARTIN left behind a career in the NFL to pursue boxing - now his life could be about to change.
The lightweight challenges American superstar Gervonta Davis for the WBA lightweight title on Saturday in Las Vegas.
8
And it marks a stunning rise from high school wrestling and football standout to professional boxer.
Martin laced up the gloves as a late bloomer at 18 - but only as his mom previously prevented it.
“I was always a fighter, liked to fight," Martin tells SunSport.
"I used to street fight a lot and I wanted to fight when I was younger but my mom wouldn’t let me.
READ MORE IN BOXING
“I hit 18 and I ended up signing up on my own and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Martin admittedly wrestled for fun but had big aspirations as a footballer.
“Wrestling, I did it as I liked to do it but I never thought of it as a career," he says. "But football was definitely one that I thought for as a career.
“I thought I’d be playing football and sign for someone somewhere. But it ain’t happen, so I turned to boxing.”
Most read in Boxing
Martin is not the only talented footballer in his family.
In fact, his cousin is former Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders' linebacker Jaylon Smith.
“We were in the same year, we both got out of school the same year but I just wasn’t able to move forward with it," Martin says.
“But around that time - he was a bigger name in football - but me, I was also a big name. He just had hella' top scholarships.
“But I could have definitely done something in the sport. I was one of those top athletes.”
Martin excelled in boxing and quickly won amateur titles before turning pro in 2017.
The lightweight linked up with esteemed Texas trainer Derrick James, who took Errol Spence Jr to unified welterweight titles.
But the man who orchestrated the link up? Ex-Cowboys star Smith.
8
“He’s the one who put us together," Martin remembers.
"We actually had the sit down together, my cousin Jaylon Smith, we all had that sit down with Derrick together.
8
8
“I told him everything I was aiming for and the goals I wanted to accomplish and he gave me that opportunity.”
Martin is now 18-0 with 12 knockouts which earned him the fight of a lifetime on Amazon Prime PPV against Davis.
The ex-Floyd Mayweather protege has proven to be one of the biggest box office and ticket sellers in the sport.
So the huge fanfare Davis has attained due to his 27 KOs in 29 wins is something Martin is looking to rip away in Sin City.
“Oh yeah, it’s definitely one of those life-changing fights," Martin says.
"It’s everything. I’m fighting a face, a game fighter, it’s everything.
“My name after getting a win over Gervonta Davis, everyone knows who he is so me getting that win it’s only right everybody will know exactly who I am.
“It’s a legendary fight I feel and I believe it’s going to be a life-changing fight for real.”
8
8
8
But it will not be the first time the pair have shared the ring.
They sparred at Mayweather's famed Vegas boxing club and have differing recollections of the session.
Martin claims he cracked Davis with a big left hand before things turned messy.
Davis argues that he beat the brakes of Martin and forced him to hold on for dear life.
Whatever the case, Martin insists it will matter little when they fight for real this time.
“I don’t really go off the sparring session," he says.
"It’s not like we sparred multiple times and we know each other as fighters.
“It was a long time ago, I’m a way better fighter than I was then, he’s a way better fighter than he was at that moment as well.
Read More on The US Sun
“I expect it to be a good fight. I expect Tank to come out and be who he is and I’m coming out and be the best version of myself.”
8