| Sergio Gabriel Martínez | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Sergio Gabriel Martinez |
| Nickname(s) | "Maravilla" (Wonder) |
| Rated at | Middleweight Light middleweight Welterweight |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Reach | 75 in (191 cm) |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Born | 21 February 1975 Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 52 |
| Wins | 48 |
| Wins by KO | 27 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | 0 |
Sergio Gabriel Martínez (born 21 February 1975 in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine professional boxer[1] and the current The Ring Middleweight Champion.[2]
He is the former undefeated WBC & WBO Middleweight Champion[3][4] and recipient of the WBC Diamond belt.[5]
Martinez was previously in the light middleweight division, where he held the WBC Latino and Interim WBC light middleweight titles.[6][7] Also, he has competed in the welterweight division, where he held the WBO Latino title.[8]
Martínez is currently rated as the number three pound for pound best boxer in the world by most sporting news and boxing websites, including The Ring,[9] Sports Illustrated,[10] ESPN,[11] and Yahoo! Sports.[12] In 2010, Martínez received The Ring and BWAA "Fighter of the Year" and The Ring "Knockout of the Year" awards respectively.
Contents |
Sergio Martinez was born on February 21, 1975 in Avellaneda to parents Hugo Alberto Martinez and Susana Papadopoulou. Shortly afterwards the family relocated to the nearby city of Quilmes, which is also in the Buenos Aires Province. His father worked as a construction worker and metal worker, a trade which Sergio Martinez joined along with his two brothers, Sebastian and Hugo Jr.. Before boxing Martinez was a keen cyclist and football player, and it was not until 1995 that he decided he would become a boxer. After being trained by his uncle, Ruben Paniagua, Martinez began boxing as an amateur and compiled a record of 39-2 (39 wins to 2 losses), the losses came by way of majority decision and knock-out. His boxing career suffered a major setback in August 1996 when he broke his left hand, forcing him out of the sport for a year.[13] Although he considered competing for Argentina at the 2000 Olympics, he decided that he was too old to wait the two and a half years and chose to turn professional in December 1997.[14]
Martínez, at the age of 22, had his first professional fight on December 27, 1997 in Ituzaingo, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The opponent for his professional debut, Cristian Marcelo Vivas, was disqualified in the second round, giving Martínez his first win. Martínez fought the first 17 fights of his career in his native Argentina, compiling a record of 16-0-1. The only blemish on his record at this point occurred in his third fight, a draw against Mario Javier Nieva over four rounds. Martinez rematched Nieva four months later and won a six-round unanimous decision.[15]
After facing a relatively low level of opposition for his first 17 fights in Argentina, Martínez fought overseas for the first time, travelling to the United States to face Antonio Margarito. The fight took place on February 19, 2000 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The contest started badly for Martínez as Margarito scored a knockdown in the first round. Although Martínez recovered and had some success in the early rounds, he was hurt by a number of punches in round seven leading to a stoppage by the referee, thus handing Martínez his first loss. Following the Margarito fight, Martinez returned to Argentina and fought eight times, all victories, from April 2000 – February 2002. During this run of fights he won the Argentina welterweight title after outpointing Javier Alejandro Blanco, he successfully defended the title once, knocking out Sergio Ernesto Acuna in the seventh round, before being stripped of the title.[15]
After his final fight in Argentina, a February 2002 win over Francisco Mora, Martinez decided to relocate to Spain. It was there that he began his partnership with his current trainer Gabriel Sarmiento who worked out of a gym in Azuqueca de Henares. During his time in Spain Martinez also worked jobs such as; nightclub bouncer, dishwasher, construction worker and did modelling jobs for Adidas and Nike. From April 2002 – May 2003 he fought four times in Spain, all eight-round fights that he won against weak opposition, two of his opponents had lost their last six fights. This was to change in his next fight however, as he took on Richard Williams in England for the lightly regarded IBO light-middleweight title. Martinez, who entered the ring as an underdog, having had only eight days preparation,[14][16] won a unanimous decision. Although Williams scored knock-downs in the second and eleventh rounds, he was close to being stopped in the final round and the scorecards were heavily in Martinez's favour.[17] He defended the IBO title twice in the United Kingdom; a twelfth round knock-out victory of Adrian Stone in Bristol was followed by a rematch against Williams in Belfast, on this occasion Williams was stopped in the ninth round. Over the next two and a half years, Martinez won seven fights in a row back in Spain, six of which were against boxers who had losing records.[15]
Martínez claimed the interim WBC Light Middleweight title on October 4, 2008, beating Alex Bunema via an eighth round retirement.[15] On February 14, 2009 Martinez fought to a majority draw against Puerto Rican Kermit Cintron. The fight was controversial for a number of reasons; during the seventh round Martínez knocked Cintron down with a clean left hand shot, the referee reached the count of ten and waved the fight off. However, this was disputed by Cintron, who claimed that the knockdown was a result of a headbutt. Cintron's protestations led to the referee overturning his decision and the fight continued. The fight went the twelve round distance and the scorecards revealed a draw, many ringside observers felt that the decision was a robbery and that Martínez easily outboxed Cintron and should have gained the victory.[18]
On May 21, 2009, WBC Light Middleweight champion Vernon Forrest was stripped of his title due to a rib injury that would leave him out of action indefinitely. Because of the injury and his inability to fight Sergio Martínez, Martínez's interim title was upgraded to full WBC Title status.[19]
On December 5, 2009 Martínez fought Paul Williams in a non-title Middleweight bout at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall. Both boxers traded knockdowns in an opening round of a contest that was described as a fight of the year candidate.[20] The next two rounds were heavily in Martínez's favor as he hit Williams with barrages of counter punches. Rounds 4-7 showed Williams coming back effectively landing hard lefts to the head of Martínez. In rounds 8-11 Martínez again confused Williams by using different varieties of punches including straight lead lefts to the body followed by right hooks to the head and straight lefts to the face. The 12th and final round showed much fatigue in Martínez and Williams but the fighters fought through to the end. Williams won a close majority decision over Martínez with the judges scoring: Pierre Benoist 119-110 for Williams, Lynn Carter 115-113 for Williams and Julie Lederman 114-114. Afterward both fighters expressed interest in a possible rematch.[21]
After an impressive performance against Paul Williams, Sergio Martínez stayed at Middleweight and challenged the World Champion Kelly Pavlik. The fight took place in Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall on April 17, 2010. Martínez defeated Pavlik via unanimous decision in a bout which saw Martínez overcome an early knockdown to subsequently dominate the late rounds. Pavlik had cuts above both eyes for several rounds which did not stop bleeding; he said they affected his vision and performance.[22] Although there was a rematch clause in the contract, Pavlik chose not to enforce it, stating his desire to move up in weight.[23]
The victory over Pavlik earned Martínez the Middleweight Championship of the WBC, The Ring and the WBO.
With Martínez winning the Middleweight championship, he was required to make some decisions regarding his conflicting WBC Super Welterweight (Light Middleweight) title. The sanctioning organizations for boxing recognize that boxers may choose to move up or down in the weight categories, yet they also wish to make all championship belts available to challenge. As such, their rules prohibit a fighter from simultaneously holding belts in multiple divisions. This prohibition includes holding a title with one sanctioning organization while also holding a title in a different weight class with a different organization. Eight weeks after the Pavlik fight, when Martínez failed to announce a preference to be a Super Welterweight or a Middleweight champion (the WBO rules allow ten days to decide), the WBO stripped him of their Middleweight title.[24] A week later, Martínez did inform the WBC that he was willing to vacate their Super Welterweight title and maintain his WBC Middleweight belt.[25]
On November 20, 2010, Sergio got a chance to avenge his loss to Williams. Martínez was ranked fourth pound for pound, while Willams was No. 3. Many speculated that this would be a fight of the year candidate. Approximately one minute into the second round, Martínez knocked Williams out with an over-the-top left hand to retain his title. The knockout was called by many as the knockout of the year. Williams stated to Max Kellerman after the fight, "He caught me with a punch I did not see."
Sergio Martínez fought previously undefeated Sergiy Dzindziruk on March 12, 2011 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, winning by TKO in 8 rounds. Dzindziruk, the WBO light middlweight champion, was knocked down five times in the fight.[26]
Martínez fought undefeated EBU Darren Barker on October 1 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Many boxing analysts and experts said that Darren Barker has the skills and ring generalship to one day become a champion, but that his skills were not perfected enough to do anything against Martinez. The first few rounds showed that Barker was actually able to make Martinez uncomfortable in the ring and give him more trouble than expected. Throughout the fight Barker consistently gave Martienz problems, while never hurting him or really ever winning any of the rounds he gave Martinez a challenge by coming in but not giving much offence to let Martinez counter or land anything clean. He also managed to get Martinez's nose to bleed early in the rounds by an upper cut. Martinez however fought through the difficulty and eventually found openings which led to knocking him out in the 11th round by a right hook. The WBC has declared Martinez to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, on an unknown date.
A southpaw, Martinez is known as a fast and athletic fighter and his style has been described as "crowd-pleasing"[27] and, because of his tendency to fight with his hands down when he is out of range of his opponent, "arrogant".[28] One of Martinez's best weapons is his right hook, which he says he developed when he injured his left hand during his amateur career.[16]
| 48 Wins (27 knockouts), 2 Losses, 2 Draws[29] | |||||||
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Type | Rd., Time | Date | Location | Notes |
| N/A | 48-2-2 | Matthew Macklin | - | ? (12) | 2012-03-17 | Madison Square Garden, New York, New York | Defends The Ring Middleweight title. |
| Win | 48-2-2 | Darren Barker | KO | 11 (12), 1:29 | 2011-10-01 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey | Retained The Ring Middleweight title. |
| Win | 47-2-2 | Sergiy Dzinziruk | TKO | 8 (12), 1:43 | 2011-03-12 | Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut | Retained The Ring Middleweight title. Awarded WBC Diamond belt. |
| Win | 46-2-2 | Paul Williams | KO | 2 (12), 1:10 | 2010-11-20 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey | Retained The Ring & WBC Middleweight titles. |
| Win | 45-2-2 | Kelly Pavlik | UD | 12 | 2010-04-17 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey | Won The Ring, WBC, & WBO Middleweight titles. |
| Loss | 44-2-2 | Paul Williams | MD | 12 | 2009-12-05 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey | |
| Draw | 44-1-2 | Kermit Cintron | MD | 12 | 2009-02-14 | BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida | Retained Interim WBC Light Middleweight title. |
| Win | 44-1-1 | Alex Bunema | RTD | 8 (12), 3:00 | 2008-10-04 | Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, California | Won Interim WBC Light Middleweight title. |
| Win | 43-1-1 | Archak TerMeliksetian | TKO | 7 (10), 2:14 | 2008-06-07 | Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut | |
| Win | 42-1-1 | David Toribio | UD | 4 | 2008-02-16 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 41-1-1 | Russell Jordan | TKO | 4 (10), 0:59 | 2007-12-06 | Paradise Theater, Bronx, New York | |
| Win | 40-1-1 | Pavel Florin Madalin | RTD | 4 (6), 3:00 | 2007-10-06 | Polideportivo Sage 2000, Madrid, Madrid | |
| Win | 39-1-1 | Saúl Román | KO | 4 (12), 2:25 | 2007-04-27 | Grand Plaza Hotel, Houston, Texas | WBC Light Middleweight title eliminator. |
| Win | 38-1-1 | Oliver Tchinda | KO | 5 (8), ? | 2006-10-07 | Pabellon La Solidaridad, Fuenlabrada, Madrid | |
| Win | 37-1-1 | Vasile Surcica | UD | 12 | 2006-05-26 | Poliesportiu Insular Blanca Dona, Ibiza, Balearic Islands | Retained WBC Latino Light Middleweight title. |
| Win | 36-1-1 | Presente Brito | TKO | 1 (8), ? | 2006-04-01 | Estadio Rayo Vallecano, Madrid | |
| Win | 35-1-1 | Tamaz Tskrialashvili | TKO | 6 (8), ? | 2005-11-04 | La Cubierta, Leganés, Madrid | |
| Win | 34-1-1 | Alvaro Moreno Gamboa | KO | 2 (12), ? | 2005-10-05 | La Linea, Andalusia | Retained WBC Latino Light Middleweight title. |
| Win | 33-1-1 | Albert Airapetian | KO | 11 (12), ? | 2005-03-04 | León, Castile and León | Won WBC Latino Light Middleweight title. |
| Win | 32-1-1 | Jorge Teixeira Pina | RTD | 5 (8), 3:00 | 2005-01-07 | Pabellon Municipal, Lugo, Galicia | |
| Win | 31-1-1 | Richard Williams | TKO | 9 (12), ? | 2004-04-17 | King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland | |
| Win | 30-1-1 | Adrian Stone | KO | 12 (12), 1:50 | 2003-10-09 | Whitchurch Leisure Centre, Bristol, Avon | |
| Win | 29-1-1 | Richard Williams | UD | 12 | 2003-06-21 | M.E.N. Arena, Manchester | |
| Win | 28-1-1 | Frank Oppong | UD | 8 | 2003-05-09 | La Cubierta Palazo de Toros, Leganés, Madrid | |
| Win | 27-1-1 | Miguel Angel Perez | KO | 1 (8), ? | 2003-02-07 | Cubierta de Leganes, Madrid, Madrid | |
| Win | 26-1-1 | Vasile Surcica | UD | 8 | 2002-07-12 | Campo de Futbol Las Americas, Parla, Madrid | |
| Win | 25-1-1 | Alvaro Moreno Gamboa | UD | 8 | 2002-04-26 | Barcelona, Cataluña | |
| Win | 24-1-1 | Francisco Antonio Mora | UD | 10 | 2002-02-02 | Estadia F.A.B., Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 23-1-1 | Sergio Ernesto Acuna | TKO | 7 (12), ? | 2001-10-27 | Estadia F.A.B., Buenos Aires | Retained Argentina (FAB) Welterweight title. |
| Win | 22-1-1 | Javier Alejandro Blanco | UD | 10 | 2001-09-08 | Estadia F.A.B., Buenos Aires | Won vacant Argentina (FAB) Welterweight title. |
| Win | 21-1-1 | Enrique Areco | RTD | 8 | 2001-07-14 | Ce.De.M. N° 2, Caseros, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 20-1-1 | Elbio Felipe Gonzlaez | TKO | 6 (10) | 2001-05-19 | Nueve de Julio, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 19-1-1 | Adrian Walter Daneff | KO | 4 (12) | 2000-06-16 | Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Buenos Aires | Won vacant WBO Latino Welterweight title. |
| Win | 18-1-1 | Javier Alejandro Blanco | UD | 8 (8) | 2000-05-05 | Santa Rosa, La Pampa | |
| Win | 17-1-1 | Raul Eduardo Bejarano | UD | 6 (6) | 2000-04-15 | Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Buenos Aires | |
| Loss | 16-1-1 | Antonio Margarito | TKO | 7 (10), 2:57 | 2000-02-19 | Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 16-0-1 | Paulo Alejandro Sanchez | UD | 10 | 1999-10-22 | Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 15-0-1 | Silvio Walter Rojas | UD | 10 | 1999-10-09 | Círculo General Belgrano, Ciudad Evita, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 14-0-1 | Walter Fabian Saporiti | TKO | 2 (8) | 1999-09-11 | Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 13-0-1 | Ariel Gabriel Chaves | UD | 10 | 1999-08-28 | Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 12-0-1 | Paulo Alejandro Sanchez | UD | 10 | 1999-07-17 | Villa Dominico, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 11-0-1 | Silvio Walter Rojas | UD | 10 | 1999-06-26 | Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 10-0-1 | Elio Vaca Anglarill | UD | 8 | 1999-05-15 | Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 9-0-1 | Jose Antonio Perez | UD | 8 | 1999-04-17 | Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 8-0-1 | Ignacio Ramon Caceres | RTD | 4 (6) | 1999-03-19 | Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 7-0-1 | Arnaldo Gabriel Molina | RTD | 5 (6) | 1999-03-05 | Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 6-0-1 | Gabriel Leonidas Leiva | TKO | 3 (8) | 1998-12-04 | Estudios Canal 9 TV, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 5-0-1 | Luis Alberto Baldomir | RTD | 5 (6) | 1998-09-04 | Estadia F.A.B., Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 4-0-1 | Juan Mauricio Marino | UD | 6 | 1998-08-22 | Estadia F.A.B., Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 3-0-1 | Mario Javier Nieva | UD | 6 | 1998-07-25 | Estadia F.A.B., Buenos Aires | |
| Draw | 2-0-1 | Juan Mauricio Marino | Draw | 4 | 1998-03-14 | Estudios de America T.V., Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 2–0 | Julio Cesar Villalva | TKO | 1 (6) | 1998-02-20 | Cipolletti, Rio Negro | |
| Win | 1–0 | Cristian Marcelo Vivas | DQ | 2 (6) | 1997-12-27 | Ituzaingo, Buenos Aires | |
| Vacant
Title last held by
Javier Castillejo |
WBC Super Welterweight Champion Interim Title October 4, 2008 – May 21, 2009 Promoted |
Vacant |
| Preceded by Vernon Forrest Stripped |
WBC Super Welterweight Champion May 21, 2009 – June 16, 2010 Vacated |
Vacant
Title next held by
Manny Pacquiao |
| Preceded by Kelly Pavlik |
WBO Middleweight Champion April 17, 2010 – June 1, 2010 Stripped |
Vacant
Title next held by
Dmitry Pirog |
| WBC Middleweight Champion April 17, 2010 – January 18, 2011 Status Changed:Emeritus champion |
Succeeded by Sebastian Zbik Interim Champion promoted |
|
| The Ring Middleweight Champion April 17, 2010 – present |
Incumbent | |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Manny Pacquiao |
BWAA Fighter of the Year The Ring Fighter of the Year 2010 |
Incumbent |