Somebody show me when Sergios knee fell apart

[Beanz]

I think Martinez is trying to be honourable and not take anything away from Cotto. That is not to say that the state of Sergio's knees were the only reason Cotto was able to hurt him and then keep him off balance all night, but it is quite obvious that they were a big factor in the fight. It's not like people are all exclusive fans of one fighter over another either. Martinez has been a credit to the sport but we all saw that he was in serious decline before last night. I hold my hands up and admit that I thought as soon as Cotto decided to trade with Martinez then he would pay the price, and I was clearly wrong, but that does not mean tha I can ignore what my own eyes told me when watching the Argentinians clearly compromised movement. It is like the people who dismiss Golovkin purely on his record without acknowledging how he goes about his work and what they see in front of their eyes. Congratulations to Cotto. We will not know how he is going to fare as a middleweight until he faces somebody at that weight now that he is the man, but I would not bet against him unless he chooses to jump in the deep end with GGG.

[Beanz]

And yes I am a little pissed, because Golovkin did not get the chance to fight the man, and he may well now have to wait another hundred years to prove his ability to tie up everything in this weight class.

[IamInuit]

I think Martinez is trying to be honourable and not take anything away from Cotto. That is not to say that the state of Sergio's knees were the only reason Cotto was able to hurt him and then keep him off balance all night, but it is quite obvious that they were a big factor in the fight. It's not like people are all exclusive fans of one fighter over another either. Martinez has been a credit to the sport but we all saw that he was in serious decline before last night. I hold my hands up and admit that I thought as soon as Cotto decided to trade with Martinez then he would pay the price, and I was clearly wrong, but that does not mean tha I can ignore what my own eyes told me when watching the Argentinians clearly compromised movement. It is like the people who dismiss Golovkin purely on his record without acknowledging how he goes about his work and what they see in front of their eyes. Congratulations to Cotto. We will not know how he is going to fare as a middleweight until he faces somebody at that weight now that he is the man, but I would not bet against him unless he chooses to jump in the deep end with GGG.

Fair enough. Good points

[Beanz]

It's boxing isn't it ? the best rarely meet the best at both of their primes and you are right to remind everyone that Cotto is hardly a spring chicken himself. I would have loved to have seen Cotto fight Hatton at light-Welterweight and I think he may well have beaten Ricky but what a hell of a fight that would have been.

[Ron Swanson]

I was very critical of not only his legs but how he used them. I felt terrible after the fight because it probably came off dismissive of Cotto when that certainly wasn't my intention.

Here is what my eyes thought they saw.
Not a knee issue as much as a leg strength issue and how he moved not his ability to move. First, one foot was always in the air. Big step left with his lead leg, he's not in a good punching position while it is up or turned as it put him. Then big step sideways with his train foot, again he can't really punch with that foot in the air. Once he plants it down he is sturdy but he then moved his lead leg again. Constantly with no base under him. His balance was shook from early but some of that can be compensated by pure leg strength. And awkward fighters can generate power without having their legs under them from their legs. That's what makes them awkward. Being able to get power when you don't expect. But I saw about five times(not counting when he was stunned) where he went to make a simple movement and he sort of tripped because it didn't look like he had the strength in his legs to compensate for his movement.

I fully apologize if it came off I was dismissing what Cotto had done. That certainly wasn't my intention. I just didn't see leg strength from Sergio, I commented on how pencil thin his legs were at the weigh in. I thought they'd use the 14 months to build them up to stabilize the knee. I didn't see leg strength at the weigh in and I didn't see a solid base in the fight. Full props to Cotto for beating the hell out of him. And I use what I say about Sergios legs as no excuse for how wildly wrong I was about the fight. What happened happened I was just flat wrong. Probably the most wrong I've been since I under estimated a young Andre Ward. This one will stick with me for the shot to my ego. But it's awesome that Cotto got to put on such a show. Bariquas rejoice!

[Kirkland Laing]

I was very critical of not only his legs but how he used them. I felt terrible after the fight because it probably came off dismissive of Cotto when that certainly wasn't my intention.

Here is what my eyes thought they saw.
Not a knee issue as much as a leg strength issue and how he moved not his ability to move. First, one foot was always in the air. Big step left with his lead leg, he's not in a good punching position while it is up or turned as it put him. Then big step sideways with his train foot, again he can't really punch with that foot in the air. Once he plants it down he is sturdy but he then moved his lead leg again. Constantly with no base under him. His balance was shook from early but some of that can be compensated by pure leg strength. And awkward fighters can generate power without having their legs under them from their legs. That's what makes them awkward. Being able to get power when you don't expect. But I saw about five times(not counting when he was stunned) where he went to make a simple movement and he sort of tripped because it didn't look like he had the strength in his legs to compensate for his movement.

I fully apologize if it came off I was dismissing what Cotto had done. That certainly wasn't my intention. I just didn't see leg strength from Sergio, I commented on how pencil thin his legs were at the weigh in. I thought they'd use the 14 months to build them up to stabilize the knee. I didn't see leg strength at the weigh in and I didn't see a solid base in the fight. Full props to Cotto for beating the hell out of him. And I use what I say about Sergios legs as no excuse for how wildly wrong I was about the fight. What happened happened I was just flat wrong. Probably the most wrong I've been since I under estimated a young Andre Ward. This one will stick with me for the shot to my ego. But it's awesome that Cotto got to put on such a show. Bariquas rejoice!

This is the thing. He didn't have his legs from the first bell in this fight which meant he didn't have his normal mobility to get himself into punching position/out of the way of Cotto's punches and didn't have any snap in his punches when he did throw them.

[JazzWolf]

Check 1:05 of round one. Martinez twists his right knee and ankle badly as Cotto steps on his front foot and lands a left hook. My knee hurt just watching it.

Edit: If it was from the punch alone, both legs would have gone.

Occurs again at R1 1.25 and 0.43 where Cotto wedges his own knee behind Martinez front knee and pushes him, causing him to collapse over.

Evil as sin but effective tactics.

[Master]

I have not seen the fight but Sergio did not use it as an excuse.

[zhubin]

I was 99% sure Sergio was finished physically after the Murray fight...he just looked that bad. When i heard he was having a tough time making 159, i had a feeling he was in for a long night. His legs are gone...anyone trying to dispute that by saying he was able to back pedal from Cotto in order to survive is just a hater. His mobility and balance have been greatly diminished...and you can tell his punches no longer have pop. For a fighter who relies a lot on his athleticism...he was in position to get demoralized. Credit Cotto for doing what he had to do...he showed that he still has life in him. But i am not going to get carried away and say he is a threat to the other big (and much healthier) names at 160.