Sergio Martínez (boxer)

Sergio Gabriel Martínez is an Argentine professional boxer. He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC super welterweight title from 2009 to 2010; and the unified WBC, WBO, [The The Ring (magazine)|Ring (magazine)|Ring] magazine and lineal middleweight titles between 2010 and 2014. With six successful defenses of The Ring and lineal middleweight titles, Martínez's 50-month reign as champion ranks as one of the longest in the history of that weight class.
In 2020 he was granted the Platinum Konex Award as the best boxer of the last decade in Argentina. Between 2010 and 2014, Martínez was generally ranked as the world's third best active boxer, pound for pound, behind Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, as voted by most sporting news and boxing publications, however in May 2011 he reached a career high ranking as No. 2 pound for pound boxer by Yahoo! Sports and The Ring. In 2010 he received Fighter of the Year awards by both The Ring and the Boxing Writers Association of America, as well as The Ring's Knockout of the Year for his rematch victory against Paul Williams. The WBC named him their Boxer of the Year in 2010 and 2012. A southpaw, Martínez was known as a fast and athletic fighter and his style has been described as "crowd-pleasing", partly because of his tendency to fight with his hands down when out of his opponents' range.
Outside the ring, Martínez has been an active spokesperson in the fight against bullying and domestic violence against women. He is the author of a book, Corazón de Rey, and is said to be working on a second book.

𝕏 maravillabox

Early life

Sergio Martínez was born on 21 February 1975 in Avellaneda to parents Hugo Alberto Martínez 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 Martínez joined along with his two brothers, Sebastian and Hugo Jr. Martínez was bullied as a child in his "dirt-poor rural village." Before boxing, Martínez 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, Martínez began boxing as an amateur and compiled a record of 39–2, the losses came by way of majority decision and knockout. 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. 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.

Professional career

Early years in Argentina

Martínez at the age of 22, had his first professional fight on 27 December 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. Martínez rematched Nieva four months later and won a six-round unanimous decision.
After facing a relatively low level of opposition for his first 17 fights in Argentina, Martínez fought abroad for the first time, travelling to the United States to face Antonio Margarito on the undercard to the first Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera bout. The fight took place on 19 February 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, Martínez 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.

Relocation to Spain

After his final fight in Argentina, a February 2002 win over Francisco Mora, Martínez 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, Martínez 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. Martínez, who entered the ring as an underdog, having had only eight days preparation, won a unanimous decision. Although Williams scored knockdowns in the second and eleventh rounds, he was close to being stopped in the final round and the scorecards were heavily in Martínez's favour. 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, Martínez won seven fights in a row back in Spain, six of which were against boxers who had losing records. Soon thereafter, Martínez began to gain recognition and pursue fights in the United States, under the guidance of adviser Sampson Lewkowicz.

Light middleweight

Martínez vs. Cintron

Martínez claimed the Interim WBC light middleweight championship on 4 October 2008, beating Alex Bunema via an eighth round retirement. On 14 February 2009 Martínez 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 and 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 but actually the headbutt which Cintron claimed to have happened was actually an extremely powerful and accurate cross from Sergio Martínez. 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.
On 21 May 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. Although the organization also mandated that Martínez face Forrest, that bout would never happen. Less than a month later, Forrest was tragically murdered in Atlanta, GA.

Middleweight

Martínez vs. Williams I

On 5 December 2009 Martínez fought Paul Williams in a non-title middleweight bout at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall in a fight that was later described as a fight of the year candidate. In the first round Williams and Martínez would both knock each other down once. Martínez would then seem to control the next two rounds with effective power punching. Then Williams seemed to narrowly take control of the fight when he seemingly won rounds 4, 5, 6 and 7 by landing hard left hands to the side of Martínez's head. Rounds 8–10 then signified that the fight would be close on the score-cards when Martínez won those rounds by repeating what he did in rounds 2 and 3. Then in the final 2 rounds, both fighters began to fade although the exchanges remained very closely contested, although Williams was far more active and therefore would seemingly win those final 2 rounds based on the fact that he was far more active in the last 2 rounds of the fight. That would turn out to be the case as Williams would escape with a majority decision victory with scores of 114–114, 119–110 and 115–113.

Martínez vs. Pavlik

After an impressive performance against Paul Williams, Sergio Martínez stayed at middleweight and challenged WBC, WBO, The Ring and lineal middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. The fight took place in Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall on 17 April 2010. Martínez defeated Pavlik via unanimous decision in a bout which saw Martínez overcome a knockdown in the seventh round and go on to dominate a majority of the remaining rounds in the fight. Pavlik had cuts above both eyes for several rounds, which did not stop bleeding. He said they affected his vision and performance. Although there was a rematch clause in the contract, Pavlik chose not to enforce it, stating his desire to move up in weight. The victory over Pavlik earned Martínez the WBC, WBO, Ring and lineal middleweight championships.
With Martínez winning the middleweight championship, he was required to make some decisions regarding his conflicting WBC 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 light middleweight or a middleweight champion, the WBO stripped him of their middleweight title. A week later, Martínez did inform the WBC that he was willing to vacate their Light Middleweight title and maintain his WBC Middleweight belt.

Martínez vs. Williams II

On 20 November 2010, Sergio got a chance to avenge his loss to Williams. Both fighters were ranked among the top six pound-for-pound fighters, and Williams came into the fight as the Ring No. 2 ranked Middleweight. 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."

Martínez vs. Dzinziruk

Sergio Martínez's next fight was against undefeated Sergiy Dzindziruk on 12 March 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.
Martinez was also awarded the WBC Diamond belt.

Martínez vs. Barker

Martínez then fought undefeated EBU middleweight champion Darren Barker on 1 October at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. He knocked Barker out with an extremely powerful right hook and put Barker to his knees in the 11th round.
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 Martínez. The first few rounds showed that Barker was actually able to make Martínez uncomfortable in the ring and give him more trouble than expected. Throughout the fight, Barker consistently gave Martínez problems, while never hurting him or really ever winning any of the rounds, he gave Martínez a challenge by coming in but not giving much offence to let Martínez counter or land anything clean. He also managed to get Martínez's nose to bleed early in the rounds by an upper-cut. Martínez, however, fought through the difficulty and eventually found openings which led to a knock-out of Barker, in the 11th with a right hook.

Martínez vs. Macklin

Sergio successfully defended his The Ring title against the No. 3 Ring Middleweight Matthew Macklin of Ireland on 17 March 2012 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. Macklin was coming off a very impressive performance against middleweight champion Felix Sturm prior his fight with Martínez, a fight that many felt Macklin won, but he lost a controversial decision to Sturm in Germany. Macklin unexpectedly threw vigorous hooks and jabs that left Martínez behind on the scorecards and left Martínez in a sense of urgency. The Madison Square Garden crowd was largely pro-Macklin. The fight was featured on BBC's boxing schedule for 2011:
"18: Madison Square Garden, New York City, Sergio Martinez beat Matthew Macklin by 11th-round KO. ".
Martínez struggled in the first half of the fight, with Macklin able to time Martínez very well, which neutralized much of Sergio's offensive attack. Martínez was able to turn the tide in the later rounds, finding his range with his left hand. After scoring two knockdowns in the 11th, Macklin's corner stopped the fight shortly before the 12th round.

Martínez vs. Chávez Jr.

This fight was notable in that the WBC did not initially want Chávez Jr. to fight Martinez. Chávez Jr.'s godfather was the head of WBC and refused to allow the fight, even after a unanimous vote to allow the unbeaten champion to fight the current title holder.
Martinez prepped for this fight against Chavez Jr. in Oxnard, California training under his career long coach, Gabriel Sarmiento. Martínez fought Julio César Chávez Jr. on 15 September 2012, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada for Chávez Jr.'s WBC Middleweight title. Martínez won by unanimous decision after surviving a 12th round knock down following a dominant performance over the first 11 rounds. ESPN, and The Los Angeles Times all gave round-by-round reports on the fight.
Martínez out worked and out landed Chávez throughout the first 11 rounds of the fight, in dominating fashion. Though Chávez had his moments trapping Martínez in the corner on the ropes, Martínez fought Chávez and used his fast lateral movement to avoid and neutralize Chávez' offensive attack. Chávez hurt Martinez in the 12th round, sending him to the canvas halfway through the round. Martínez got up with a little over one minute left in the fight, and rather than clinch or hold on to Chávez, Martínez continued to throw and trade blows with the Mexican. Despite being fatigued and clearly hurt, Sergio Martínez managed to survive the thrilling 12th round without holding. Martínez won the fight by unanimous decision, by the scores of 117–110, 118–109, and 118–109. After the fight, it was revealed that Martínez had broken his left hand and torn his right meniscus, the latter of which would require surgery.
After the fight, Chávez tested positive for cannabis. As a result, he received a fine of $20,000 and was indefinitely suspended by the World Boxing Council.

Martínez vs. Murray

After his surgery, Martínez confirmed his next title defense would take place in his native Argentina, in what would be his first fight in his home country since leaving for Spain in 2002. News agency Reuters reported that Martínez could make his first title defense against British fighter Martin Murray on 27 April 2013 in Argentina. Martínez defeated Ring Top 10 Middleweight Martin Murray by a controversial unanimous decision. Many observers stated that there had been a clear deterioration in Martínez since the Chávez Jr. bout.

Martínez vs. Cotto

After a series of setbacks including further surgeries on his knees, Martínez fought again over a year after the Murray fight, losing his WBC, The Ring and lineal middleweight titles to three-division former world champion Miguel Cotto on 7 June 2014, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was evident straight away that Martinez's legs were not there, even with knee braces on and clearly visible, Cotto knocked Martínez down three times in the first round. After the first round however, he began to make the fight competitive with Cotto. He continued to fight back until round nine when Martínez went down once again. Following the ninth round, trainer Pablo Sarmiento decided to call off the fight prior to the tenth round while still in the corner, against the urging of Martínez. According to reports, Sarmiento told Martínez "Champion, your knees are not responding. Sergio, look at me... I'm gonna stop this one. Sergio, you are the best for me. You'll always be the best champion, Sergio."
Following the bout, Martínez stated that he wanted to continue his boxing career, and expressed his desire to fight against Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. However, on 13 June 2015, Martínez announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 40, stating that both aging and knee injuries were the causes for his decision. Since 2020, Martinez has had a succession of comeback fights and is currently ranked in the top 10 at age 47.

Personal life

Martinez still resides in Madrid, Spain. He is divorced and once dated sports commentator Silvana Carsetti.

Activism

Martinez has been presented with an award for helping bullied children. He has also championed the cause of stopping domestic violence against women. He attended a news conference to support legislation involving the Violence Against Women Act. Martinez was quoted as saying: "With domestic violence, no one wanted to touch the subject with a 10-foot pole. I was interested in the issue that a boxer, who dishes out violence, could also be thoughtful and do something and people would listen to someone like me. I thought I could have the most impact by speaking out on the issue."

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Age	Location	Notes
62	Win		Jhon Teherán	KO	1, 1:27	21 Mar 2023		Estadio Luna Park, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
61	Win	56–3–2	Noah Kidd	KO	2, 2:35	11 Dec 2022		Caribe Royale Orlando, Orlando, Florida, US
60	Win	55–3–2	McCauley McGowan	UD	10	27 Jan 2022		WiZink Center, Madrid, Spain
59	Win	54–3–2	Brian Rose	UD	10	25 Sep 2021		Valdemoro, Madrid, Spain
58	Win	53–3–2	Jussi Koivula	TKO	9, 0:36	19 Dec 2020		Bolera Severino Prieto, Torrelavega, Spain
57	Win	52–3–2	Jose Miguel Fandiño	TKO	7, 1:51	21 Aug 2020		El Malecon, Torrelavega, Spain
56	Loss	51–3–2	Miguel Cotto	RTD	10, 0:06	7 Jun 2014		Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.	Lost WBC and The Ring middleweight titles
55	Win	51–2–2	Martin Murray	UD	12	27 Apr 2013		José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Retained WBC and The Ring middleweight titles
54	Win	50–2–2	Julio César Chávez Jr.	UD	12	15 Sep 2012		Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	Retained The Ring middleweight title; Won WBC middleweight title
53	Win	49–2–2	Matthew Macklin	RTD	11, 3:00	17 Mar 2012		The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.	Retained The Ring middleweight title
52	Win	48–2–2	Darren Barker	KO	11, 1:29	1 Oct 2011		Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Retained The Ring middleweight title
51	Win	47–2–2	Serhiy Dzyndzyruk	TKO	8, 1:43	12 Mar 2011		Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, U.S.	Retained The Ring middleweight title
50	Win	46–2–2	Paul Williams	KO	2, 1:10	20 Nov 2010		Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Retained WBC and The Ring middleweight titles
49	Win	45–2–2	Kelly Pavlik	UD	12	17 Apr 2010		Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Won WBC, WBO, and The Ring middleweight titles
48	Loss	44–2–2	Paul Williams		12	5 Dec 2009		Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
47	Draw	44–1–2	Kermit Cintrón		12	14 Feb 2009		BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida, U.S.	Retained WBC interim super welterweight title
46	Win	44–1–1	Alex Bunema	RTD	8, 3:00	4 Oct 2008		Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, California, U.S.	Won vacant WBC interim super welterweight title
45	Win	43–1–1	Archak TerMeliksetian	TKO	7, 2:14	7 Jun 2008		Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, U.S.
44	Win	42–1–1	David Toribio	UD	4	16 Feb 2008		MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
43	Win	41–1–1	Russell Jordan	TKO	4, 0:59	6 Dec 2007		Paradise Theater, New York City, New York, U.S.
42	Win	40–1–1	Pavel Florin Madalin	RTD	4, 3:00	6 Oct 2007		Polideportivo Sage 2000, Madrid, Spain
41	Win	39–1–1	Saúl Román	KO	4, 2:25	27 Apr 2007		Grand Plaza Hotel, Houston, Texas, U.S.
40	Win	38–1–1	Oliver Tchinda	KO	5	7 Oct 2006		Pabellón La Solidaridad, Fuenlabrada, Spain
39	Win	37–1–1	Vasile Surcica	UD	12	26 May 2006		Poliesportiu Insular Blanca Dona, Ibiza	Retained WBC Latino super welterweight title
38	Win	36–1–1	Presente Brito	TKO	1	1 Apr 2006		Estadio Rayo Vallecano, Madrid, Spain
37	Win	35–1–1	Tamaz Tskrialashvili	RTD	6	4 Nov 2005		La Cubierta, Leganés, Spain
36	Win	34–1–1	Alvaro Moreno Gamboa	KO	2	5 Oct 2005		La Línea de la Concepción, Spain	Retained WBC Latino super welterweight title
35	Win	33–1–1	Albert Airapetian	KO	11	4 Mar 2005		León, Spain	Won WBC Latino super welterweight title
34	Win	32–1–1	Jorge Teixeira Pina	TKO	5, 0:23	7 Jan 2005	Pabellón Municipal, Lugo, Spain		-
33	Win	31–1–1	Richard Williams	RTD	9	17 Apr 2004		King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Retained IBO super welterweight title
32	Win	30–1–1	Adrian Stone	KO	12, 1:50	9 Oct 2003		Whitchurch Leisure Centre, Bristol, England	Retained IBO super welterweight title
31	Win	29–1–1	Richard Williams	UD	12	21 Jun 2003		MEN Arena, Manchester, England	Won IBO super welterweight title
30	Win	28–1–1	Frank Oppong	UD	8	9 May 2003		La Cubierta Palazo de Toros, Leganés, Spain
29	Win	27–1–1	Miguel Angel Perez	KO	1	7 Feb 2003		Cubierta de Leganes, Madrid, Spain
28	Win	26–1–1	Vasile Surcica	UD	8	12 Jul 2002		Campo de Futbol Las Americas, Parla, Spain
27	Win	25–1–1	Alvaro Moreno Gamboa	UD	8	26 Apr 2002		Barcelona, Spain
26	Win	24–1–1	Francisco Antonio Mora	UD	10	2 Feb 2002		Estadio FAB, Buenos Aires, Argentina
25	Win	23–1–1	Sergio Ernesto Acuna	TKO	7, 1:47	27 Oct 2001		Estadio FAB, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Retained ABF welterweight title
24	Win	22–1–1	Javier Alejandro Blanco	UD	10	8 Sep 2001		Estadio FAB, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Won vacant ABF welterweight title
23	Win	21–1–1	Enrique Areco	RTD	8, 0:01	14 Jul 2001		Ce.De.M. N° 2, Caseros, Argentina
22	Win	20–1–1	Elbio Felipe Gonzlaez	TKO	6	19 May 2001		Nueve de Julio, Argentina
21	Win	19–1–1	Adrian Walter Daneff		4	16 Jun 2000		Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina	Won vacant WBO Latino welterweight title
20	Win	18–1–1	Javier Alejandro Blanco	UD	8	5 May 2000		Santa Rosa, Argentina
19	Win	17–1–1	Raul Eduardo Bejarano	UD	6	15 Apr 2000		Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina
18	Loss	16–1–1	Antonio Margarito	TKO	7, 2:57	19 Feb 2000		Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
17	Win	16–0–1	Paulo Alejandro Sanchez	UD	10	22 Oct 1999		Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina
16	Win	15–0–1	Silvio Walter Rojas	UD	10	9 Oct 1999		Círculo General Belgrano, Ciudad Evita, Argentina
15	Win	14–0–1	Walter Fabian Saporiti	TKO	2	11 Sep 1999		Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina
14	Win	13–0–1	Ariel Gabriel Chaves	UD	10	28 Aug 1999		Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina
13	Win	12–0–1	Paulo Alejandro Sanchez	UD	10	17 Jul 1999		Villa Dominico, Argentina
12	Win	11–0–1	Silvio Walter Rojas	UD	10	26 Jun 1999		Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina
11	Win	10–0–1	Elio Vaca Anglarill	UD	8	15 May 1999		Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina
10	Win	9–0–1	Jose Antonio Perez	UD	8	17 Apr 1999		Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina
9	Win	8–0–1	Ignacio Ramon Caceres	RTD	4	19 Mar 1999		Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina
8	Win	7–0–1	Arnaldo Gabriel Molina	RTD	5	5 Mar 1999		Mar del Plata, Argentina
7	Win	6–0–1	Gabriel Leonidas Leiva	TKO	3	4 Dec 1998		Estudios Canal 9, Buenos Aires, Argentina
6	Win	5–0–1	Luis Alberto Baldomir		5	4 Sep 1998		Estadio FAB, Buenos Aires, Argentina
5	Win	4–0–1	Juan Mauricio Marino	UD	6	22 Aug 1998		Estadio FAB, Buenos Aires, Argentina
4	Win	3–0–1	Mario Javier Nieva		6	25 Jul 1998		Estadio FAB, Buenos Aires, Argentina
3	Draw	2–0–1	Mario Javier Nieva		4	14 Mar 1998		Estudios América TV, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2	Win	2–0	Julio Cesar Villalva		1	20 Feb 1998		Cipolletti, Argentina
1	Win	1–0	Cristian Marcelo Vivas		2	27 Dec 1997		Ituzaingó, Argentina