By Mike Coppinger
Sergio Martinez's last two fights haven't done anything to improve his legacy as his Hall of Fame career winds down.
He beat the tar out of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for 11 rounds in 2012, but was nearly knocked cold in Round 12 and barely made it to the finish line.
In his lone fight last year, he struggled to a decision over Martin Murray. Martinez was also dropped in that bout, and many observers thought Murray deserved the nod.
Adding to Martinez's problems, he required knee surgery after the Chavez Jr. fight. He then was forced to undergo a second surgical procedure following the Murray bout.
However, he now feels his knee is back to normal as he gears up to face Miguel Cotto on June 7 at MSG.
"Right now I am just the same as when there were no knee problems," Martinez said through a translator on a Tuesday conference call. "I have overcome all obstacles."
"The recuperation was very painful. I was on crutches for nine months and it is very hard to come back from that, but this is the road that I chose and I enjoy the achievement of coming back from something like this. Everything is going to be fine come fight time."
It's worth noting that Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KOs) also claimed to be 100 percent going into the Murray fight, only for his promoter Lou DiBella to admit after the shaky outing that wasn't the case.
The tilt with Murray was in April 2013, and Martinez, 39, will be facing Cotto on an almost 16-month layoff. However, Martinez isn't concerned about any ring rust.
"When someone has been in boxing for twenty years and taken a year off, it’s not a problem because you have twenty years of experience, so that year lay-off is not going to affect me in the least."
Martinez hasn't tasted defeat since a hotly contested 2009 decision loss to Paul Williams.
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