Bernard Dunne's career suffered a huge setback in Dublin

Dunne was sent to the canvas twice inside the first minute in Dublin, and a further onslaught from Martinez led referee Terry O'Connor to step in.

Dunne, who suffered the first defeat of his professional career, saw his world title plans dashed at the Point Arena.

Spain's Martinez now boasts a record of 14 knockouts in 17 victories.

606: DEBATE Where do you see Dunne going from here? Could he bounce back? Anton

The packed arena was stunned when Dunne went down under an early flurry of punches.

Although he did not seem badly hurt, Martinez quickly followed up and put him on the canvas again with an overhand right.

Clearly struggling to cope with the challenger's aggression, Dunne tried to circle the ring and stay out of trouble but Martinez was not about to let him off the hook.

The Spaniard marched forward, cornered Dunne against the ropes and, as the Irishman tried to land his own blows, Martinez tagged him with two left hooks and a big right hand before O'Connor stepped in.

Dunne acknowledged that he had "been caught cold" but insisted that he would recover from the huge setback.

"I got hit with a punch that I didn't see coming and from there I was in trouble," he added.

"I'm just so disappointed for myself and everyone in the team and I feel that I have let the people down.

"Now I have to away from this and watch the tape and see where I went wrong. It's hard to take but that's boxing.

"I know that I have the character to come back from this and I'll prove that. I can come back even stronger."