Thread: Sergio Martinez... What's happened?

Yea, it's very unlikely he'll return to form imo. Knee injuries are nasty things and he is a guy who relies so much on his legs. I'd be surprised if he looks good enough to make the big fights terribly interesting at this point, but hope I'm wrong he was great to watch.

Originally Posted by Silkeyjoe

Are we just not giving Murray enough credit? He fought a good fight that looked to frustrate Martinez. Given it was his first fight in Argentina for a very long time he was really looking to impress and threw shots that were never going to land cleanly and left himself open to more shots then usual.

I think this is right. Murray may not be the best boxer of the domestic crop but he is teak tough, dogged and determined and I think Sergio underestimated him. He dropped the champion and pushed him much closer than the cards reflected. That was not all down to Martinez' wear and tear and had a lot to do with Murray's constant pressure.

Originally Posted by Greenbeanz

Originally Posted by Silkeyjoe

Are we just not giving Murray enough credit? He fought a good fight that looked to frustrate Martinez. Given it was his first fight in Argentina for a very long time he was really looking to impress and threw shots that were never going to land cleanly and left himself open to more shots then usual.

I think this is right. Murray may not be the best boxer of the domestic crop but he is teak tough, dogged and determined and I think Sergio underestimated him. He dropped the champion and pushed him much closer than the cards reflected. That was not all down to Martinez' wear and tear and had a lot to do with Murray's constant pressure.

I think murray may actually be the best out of your alls domestic bunch quite honestly i think he beats macklin and barker, lee and whoever else is around that weight in the uk, his only fault is he either starts to slow or finishes to slow so a lack of stamina i guess

Originally Posted by Rantcatrat

Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing

I just read his hand and his knee are fine now and he's back in light training. Don't think he'll ever be the same again though. I think he'll have a tuneup against somebody he can beat and then he's out of his HBO contract. In the meantime Floyd fights the Matthysse-Garcia winner. Then they fight each other at 155. Floyd gets to claim he won the middleweight world championship against the top 160 pounder and a pound for pound guy, Martinez gets a massive retirement payday.

I thought Floyd didn't do catch weights? Oh wait. I doubt Floyd fight Martinez. Again, there is the HBO/Showtime thing. Martinez can't fight on Showtime and Floyd is signed to multiple fights there.

He's doing a catchweight against Alvarez and it'll be his biggest-earning fight ever. After it's over he's looking at a diminishing list of dance partners and a serious lack of PPVable opponents. Matthysse might spark Garcia and be a half decent PPV opponent. Other than that it's the winner of Khan-Alexander which isn't exactly a PPV dynamite option for Floyd. Martinez is the top middleweight name, technically still on the pound for pound list and offers Floyd the chance to get a credible middleweight belt by fighting a guy who is really a 154 pounder. He's got one fight left on his HBO contract which he can do while Floyd fights Matthysse. Then it's probably the biggest fight Floyd can make.

I think he should fight GGG to c if he lives up to the hype, but don't c that happening,

Lot of good points made in the thread.

Sergio IS extremely deserving of his fame... but IMO he has let it get to his head a little bit, which on the other hand is understandable, and he's certainly not the only great fighter this has happened to. And yes, he did underestimate a very focused and game Murray... plus the added pressure of putting on a show in front of his home crowd. I think Sergio got away with one there.

He did begin late in boxing, and thus he's probably not mentally ready to hang them up just yet... regardless of what his body is telling him. And another good point was made regarding our expectations as fans that fighters can fight effectively well into their 40's. That is not the norm, and in fact can turn out to be rather dangerous, IMO.

The most important point of all is one I've made myself over and over again. Sergio's biggest mistake was coming back from his leg injury suffered against JCC Jr. way too soon. He should've given his old body a bit more time to recover fully. But he didn't, and now he's paying the price. It's a shame, because in a fight where he was totally dominating, schooling, and humiliating his opponent... he hurts his leg.... and then doesn't give himself the time to heal properly. Which is why talk of JCC ruining Martinez after the fight is so blatantly foolish and ignorant. If anybody ruined Martinez, it was Martinez himself... by not paying attention to his body's needs. We're not talking a 25-year young man here.

Bottom line is, Sergio is an extremely well-liked, respected boxing champion. He represents his country well. Not in the shameful way other fighters conduct themselves. He's never been suspected (that I know of thus far) as a drug cheat..... he's never resorted to using plaster in his gloves..... and he can put two sentences together without sounding like the village idiot.

I wish him well, no matter what his future is.