Frank Martin Finds the Finish, Stops Tarik Zaina in the Seventh

Frank Martin shook off a sluggish start and found the finish he needed in the seventh round, dropping and stopping Tarik Zaina to win the vacant NABO light welterweight title on the Foster vs. Navarrete undercard at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio on Saturday night.

Martin, now 20-1-1 with 14 knockouts, was cautious early, giving the taller Zaina room to work from the outside. Through the first five rounds the fight was competitive, with Zaina using his reach advantage to land clean power shots in the third and keeping Martin from establishing his rhythm, per Boxing News 24.

The turning point came in the seventh. Zaina came forward too aggressively, and Martin made him pay. A hard left hand dropped Zaina, and Martin unloaded with follow-up punches. Zaina rose but the referee had seen enough and waved the fight off. It was Zaina's first stoppage loss as a professional. He fell to 18-4-1, per Boxing News 24.

The win was a needed bounce-back for Martin, a former lightweight contender whose last outing was a draw with Nahir Albright in February. The 140-pound division is stacked with talent, and Martin's path back to contender status runs through nights like this one. The NABO belt is a regional title, but the seventh-round finish showed that Martin still has the power and timing to threaten anyone at light welterweight when he finds his range.