LA Boxing amateur fighter, Daniel Martinez, will be facing El Paso's Robert Gonzales for the SWKA 185-lb Kickboxing title at Art Monsivaiz presents SWKA Kickboxing and Boxing Championships, which takes place this Saturday, December 1, at Zero Gravity in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Two other SWKA titles will be on the line, as Alex Lagutin (Judgment MMA) faces Mark Morgenstern (LA Boxing) for the 140-lb title, and Joe Rodriguez (El Paso) faces Carlos Juarez (Phoenix, AZ) for the 120-pound title.

Martinez, an Albuquerque native, is an amateur kickboxer/cagefighter with years of training in boxing and kickboxing, having begun at LA Boxing in 2005, after he graduated from Albuquerque High School. Then LA Boxing owner, Chess (a friend of his uncle's), invited Martinez and his sister to try some classes, and they have been regular members since then.

Interested in the various forms of combat sports, Martinez has taken not only boxing and kickboxing at LA Boxing, but also the grappling classes. He's attended 4 grappling tournaments; the first as an intermediate grappler, and the following 3 as advanced no-gi 170-lb, and placing in each one.

Martinez made his MMA debut in August - at the urging of LA Boxing trainer, Vadiano La Luz - at the MMA Summer Showdown in Gallup, where he faced a tough opponent in Bushido MMA's Armando Rivas. That match went to a unanimous decision, with all 3 judges ruling 2 rounds for Rivas and one for Martinez.

""I felt pretty good during and after the fight, and I knew I wanted more, kickboxing, MMA, whatever." So when teammate, Morgenstern told him the 185-lb SWKA belt was up for grabs, he knew he wanted to go for it.

Martinez trains full time for now, and when he is not training at LA Boxing, he is working on his strength and conditioning with Rocky Ramirez at Westside Power Gym; and he enjoys spending time with his immediate family, who live in the area. Martinez has no specific fight goals at this time, other than to keep training and take whatever fights may come his way, and eventually to go pro.

For more information on the SWKA Championships this Saturday, call 575-527-4028 after 3:00pm.