By Keith Idec

BALTIMORE – Yuriorkis Gamboa bombarded Rocky Martinez on Saturday night.

The former three-division champion from Cuba dropped Martinez twice in the second round and stopped him before those second three minutes ended. Martinez got up from both knockdowns, but referee Bill Clancy didn’t like the way Martinez looked and stopped their scheduled 10-round lightweight bout exactly two minutes into the second round.

The 37-year-old Gamboa (30-2, 18 KOs) might’ve given Gervonta Davis’ hometown fans a glimpse of the Baltimore native’s next opponent. Gamboa is campaigning to fight Davis next, assuming the heavily favored Davis defeats mandatory challenger Ricardo Nunez in their 12-round, 130-pound main event Saturday night at a sold-out Royal Farms Arena.

The 36-year-old Martinez (30-4-3, 18 KOs), a former WBO 130-pound champion, lost in his second fight since launching a comeback earlier this year. He had retired following a fifth-round knockout loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko in June 2016.

Martinez won his first comeback bout by knockout, but Puerto Rico’s Martinez was no match for this enigmatic Olympic gold medalist.

A quick left hook by Gamboa knocked Martinez flat on his back about 15 seconds into the second round. A stunned Martinez got up and answered Clancy’s count, but he couldn’t fend off the faster, stronger Gamboa for much longer.

A left-right combination sent Martinez to the canvas again with approximately 1:15 to go in the second round. Martinez got up much more slowly from the second knockdown, and Clancy called an end to the fight.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.