He stepped up in 2019 with knockout wins over Jessie Cris Rosales and John Vincent Moralde and survived a gut check versus former interim world champion Claudio Marrero the following year. Martinez (17-0, 11 KOs) began boxing at the age of 6 in Sacramento and compiled an 85-10 amateur record before turning pro in June 2015. Conceição built an early lead, but Valdez rallied late to shade the unanimous decision. After nearly five years as an unbeaten pro, Conceição challenged WBC world champion Valdez in September. Conceição (16-1, 8 KOs), from Bahia, Brazil, captured a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, capping a 400-plus fight amateur career that included wins over the likes of Cuba’s Lazaro Alvarez and a razor-thin defeat to Vasiliy Lomachenko at the 2011 World Championships.
