Sergio Martinez fighting for women's issues

Couldn't have come in a more ironic time. Many athletes try to give back at the end of the year, and you'll see them doing a turkey giveaway. Nothing against that, but middleweight standout Sergio Martinez goes a few steps beyond turkeys with his quest to raise awareness about issues facing women, especially concentrating on domestic violence towards Latinas. The 36 year old boxer, who was born in Argentina and now lives in California, was in New York City on Tuesday. He took the time to visit two organizations which exist to serve the needs of women, especially those in Hispanic pockets of the city, who have been touched by violence at the hands of their partners, as well as sexism and discrimination. Martinez is soon going to be getting ready for a March 17 fight at Madison Square Garden, likely against middleweight contender Matthew Macklin of Ireland. But he told me that his mind wasn't on boxing so much as the plight of the women he spoke to at the Dominican Women's Development Center in Washington Heights, and then at a safe house for survivors of domestic violence run by the Violence Intervention Program. He couldn't disclose the location of the safe house, because some women there are in hiding, for fear that batterers might track them down. The 48-2-2 pugilist spoke to NYFightBlog about meeting women at both locations. "I'm amazed about how they help women so much, and how little assistance they get from the city and the government," he said. Activist/advisor Luis Miranda set up the meetings for the boxer. He told me that directors at each facility asked why a boxer would involve himself in such causes. Miranda told me that Martinez has lived much of his life in Spain, and the domestic violence problem there is considerable. Also, he said the fighter connected with the women because he lived in Spain without proper papers, and knew that it wouldn't be so easy to summon authorities if need be. Many of the women who find themselves in an abusive relationship often do not contact proper authorities because they fear deportation. We live in a cynical age, and some might think Martinez is hopping on a bandwagon. He told me that his efforts don't come from any personal experience, that no one in his family has dealt with domestic violence. "If they are cynical, they have to be in my shoes, and go to the centers and see the suffering," he said. "It's personal for me because I see they need help. I'm a louder voice than other people speaking, if I speak out others will get involved. You have to open your eyes and you will see all the social problems out there." http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/boxing/post/_/id/769/sergio-martinez-fighting-for-womens-issues