Sergio Gabriel Martínez

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 (1975-02-21) (age 36) 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 World Middleweight Champion.^[2]

He is the former WBC and WBO World Middleweight champion ^[3][4] and recipient of the WBC Diamond belt.^[5] He was previously in the Super Welterweight division, where he held the WBC Latino and WBC World 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.

Early life

Sergio Martinez was born on February 21, 1975 in Avellaneda to parents Hugo Alberto Martinez and Susana Griselda. 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]

Professional career

Early years in Argentina

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]

Relocation to Spain

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]

Light Middleweight

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]

Middleweight

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]

Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez

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.

Martínez after defending his title against Paul Williams at the Boardwalk Hall in November, 2010.

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]

The Rematch

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."

See also: Sergio Martinez vs. Paul Williams II

Martínez vs Dzindziruk

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]

See also: Sergio Martinez vs. Sergiy Dzinziruk

Martínez vs Barker

Martínez will fight undefeated EBU Darren Barker on October 1st 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.

See also: Sergio Martinez vs. Darren Barker

Fighting style

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]

Professional boxing record

48 Wins (27 knockouts), 2 Losses, 2 Draws[29]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Win	48-2-2	Darren Barker	KO	11 (12), 1:29	2011-10-01	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey	Retained The Ring World Middleweight title.
Win	47-2-2	Sergiy Dzinziruk	TKO	8 (12), 1:43	2011-03-12	Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut	Retained The Ring World 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 World Middleweight titles.
Win	45-2-2	Kelly Pavlik	UD	12	2010-04-17	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey	Won The Ring, WBC & WBO World 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	Defended interim WBC World 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 World 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	Retained IBO Light Middleweight title.
Win	30-1-1	Adrian Stone	KO	12 (12), 1:50	2003-10-09	Whitchurch Leisure Centre, Bristol, Avon	Retained IBO Light Middleweight title.
Win	29-1-1	Richard Williams	UD	12	2003-06-21	M.E.N. Arena, Manchester	Won IBO Light Middleweight title.
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

References

1. ^ http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?cat=boxer&human_id=14429
2. ^ http://ringtv.craveonline.com/ratings/
3. ^ http://boxrec.com/title_search.php?title=WBC&division=Middleweight&SUBMIT=Go
4. ^ http://boxrec.com/title_search.php?title=WBO&division=Middleweight&SUBMIT=Go
5. ^ http://wbcboxing.com/wbcVersEng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121%3Amedio&catid=15&Itemid=12
6. ^ http://boxrec.com/title_search.php?title=WBCLAT&division=Light%20Middleweight&SUBMIT=Go
7. ^ http://boxrec.com/title_search.php?title=WBC&division=Light%20Middleweight&SUBMIT=Go
8. ^ http://boxrec.com/title_search.php?title=WBOLAT&division=Welterweight&SUBMIT=Go
9. ^ http://ringtv.craveonline.com/ratings
10. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/mma/boxing/pound-for-pound-ratings/index.html
11. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=6586105
12. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=Agb5zRlQDI76VGWKp9zwfB6UxLYF?slug=ki-iole_boxing_rankings_heavyweights_emerge_051711
13. ^ "Sergio Martinez Part One: A King Goes in Search of his Crown". Dog House Boxing. http://www.doghouseboxing.com/DHB/Montoya113010.htm. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
14. ^ ^{a b} "Sergio Martinez: Better late than never". The Ring. http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/124735-sergio-martinez-better-late-than-never. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
15. ^ ^{a b c d} Boxrec. "Sergio Gabriel Martinez". Boxrec Fighter Page. http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=14429&cat=boxer. Retrieved 26 January 2008. 
16. ^ ^{a b} "Sergio Martinez Part Two: The General Crowns his King". The Ring. http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Gabriel/Montoya120210.htm. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
17. ^ "Boxing: Brodie defies eye damage to overpower Argentinian opponent". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/boxing-brodie-defies-eye-damage-to-overpower-argentinian-opponent-541536.html. Retrieved 2011-09-28. 
18. ^ "Martinez robbed of win against Cintron". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=3909328. Retrieved 19 May 2010. 
19. ^ "Martinez now jr. middleweight champ". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4193977. Retrieved 19 May 2010. 
20. ^ "Paul Williams Edges Sergio Martínez in Slugfest!". About.com: Boxing, Andrew's Boxing Blog. http://boxing.about.com/b/2009/12/06/paul-williams-edges-sergio-martinez-in-slugfest.htm. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 
21. ^ "Williams wins southpaw slugfest". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4718107. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 
22. ^ "Martinez proves his worth against Pavlik". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=5107479. Retrieved 19 May 2010. 
23. ^ "Pavlik to move up in weight". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5180805. Retrieved 19 May 2010. 
24. ^ "WBO strips Martinez of title". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5238745. Retrieved 1 June 2010. 
25. ^ "Martinez stays at middleweight". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5294834. Retrieved 16 June 2010. 
26. ^ http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/early-results-from-foxwoods-4-78231
27. ^ "Sergio Martinez v Sergiy Dzinziruk preview". Crunch Sports. http://www.crunchsports.com/category/Boxing/Sergio-Martinez-v-Sergiy-Dzinziruk-201103100051/. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
28. ^ "Final Thoughts on Pavlik-Martinez". Bad Left Hook. http://www.badlefthook.com/2010/4/18/1429499/final-thoughts-on-pavlik-martinez. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
29. ^ "Sergio Gabriel Martínez Professional boxing record". BoxRec.com. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?cat=boxer&human_id=14429. 

External links

• Professional boxing record for Sergio Gabriel Martínez from BoxRec

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

Persondata
Name	Martinez, Sergio Gabriel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	21 February 1975
Place of birth	Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Date of death	21 april 2011
Place of death