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By Thomas Gerbasi - There’s something fitting about Sergio Martinez fighting at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. He’s 39 years old, the B-side in a fight against Miguel Cotto in which he holds the world championship belt the Puerto Rican star is trying to win, the one hoping that a body that has betrayed him over the last few years will hold up for 12 more rounds.
It’s almost as if Martinez making it to the ring is the equivalent of New York Knicks captain Willis Reed limping out of the tunnel for Game Seven of the NBA Finals against the LA Lakers on May 8, 1970 to inspire his team and get them off to the start they needed to win the game and the title.
It’s got that feel, that buzz, that for one more night, a great champion can be great. At the same time, this is no basketball game. Martinez can’t hit two baskets, go back to the bench, and leave his teammates to finish the work he started like Reed did. This is a fight, 12 rounds with the best fighter Martinez has ever been in with. 36 minutes of wear and tear, physical and mental warfare that can break lesser men.
Martinez is no lesser man. If anything, he should be the ideal for prizefighters these days. There’s a dignity and class to the Argentinean, one that doesn’t dilute his intensity or competitive spirit. Outside the ring he donates his efforts to charitable works and meets the Pope; inside it, he has a mean to him that could best be described as assassin-like.
At this point, such an intriguing Jekyll and Hyde mix – and let’s not forget the Hollywood looks that make the ladies swoon – should have made him a megastar. Don’t take that as a snub, because he is a star in the boxing world and at home in Argentina, but he isn’t as big as he should be.
Saturday night’s result won’t change that, which is unfortunate, and it’s why in the lead-up to the bout, the focus has been on what Cotto demanded to make the fight happen, everything from the contracted weight (159 pounds instead of the middleweight limit of 160), to being introduced last in his home away from home in New York City the night before the Puerto Rican Day Parade. [Click Here To Read More]
It’s almost as if Martinez making it to the ring is the equivalent of New York Knicks captain Willis Reed limping out of the tunnel for Game Seven of the NBA Finals against the LA Lakers on May 8, 1970 to inspire his team and get them off to the start they needed to win the game and the title.
It’s got that feel, that buzz, that for one more night, a great champion can be great. At the same time, this is no basketball game. Martinez can’t hit two baskets, go back to the bench, and leave his teammates to finish the work he started like Reed did. This is a fight, 12 rounds with the best fighter Martinez has ever been in with. 36 minutes of wear and tear, physical and mental warfare that can break lesser men.
Martinez is no lesser man. If anything, he should be the ideal for prizefighters these days. There’s a dignity and class to the Argentinean, one that doesn’t dilute his intensity or competitive spirit. Outside the ring he donates his efforts to charitable works and meets the Pope; inside it, he has a mean to him that could best be described as assassin-like.
At this point, such an intriguing Jekyll and Hyde mix – and let’s not forget the Hollywood looks that make the ladies swoon – should have made him a megastar. Don’t take that as a snub, because he is a star in the boxing world and at home in Argentina, but he isn’t as big as he should be.
Saturday night’s result won’t change that, which is unfortunate, and it’s why in the lead-up to the bout, the focus has been on what Cotto demanded to make the fight happen, everything from the contracted weight (159 pounds instead of the middleweight limit of 160), to being introduced last in his home away from home in New York City the night before the Puerto Rican Day Parade. [Click Here To Read More]
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