Lewkowicz: "Sergio Martinez is fine, retirement uncertain."

The adviser of Sergio Martinez said the aging fighter suffered a broken nose and no other injuries during Saturday's 10th-round stoppage loss to Miguel Cotto, whose victory for the RING and WBC middleweight championships at New York's Madison Square Garden made him the first Puerto Rican to earn four belts over as many different weight classes. Sampson Lewkowicz also said that he has not addressed the notion of what is next for Martinez (51-3-2, 28 knockouts), a 39-year-old southpaw from Argentina. "I don't think that he will be making any decision over the next few months. I think that he needs time to see how his body reacts and how he feels, mentally," said Lewkowicz, Martinez's advisor. "The people love him, he's an idol, but he doesn't need the money to fight again. If he asks my advice, I will give it to him, but it will be made to him, privately, and not to the public. He deserves that respect from me." Martinez had last fought in April before facing Cotto, who floored him three times in the first round, once more in the ninth, and left him bleeding from a gash over his right eye after the bout. Martinez did not attend the post-fight press conference, instead, being examined at New York's Bellevue Hospital Center. "As far as his injuries, the only thing that there was was a broken nose. His hands were perfect. No damage," said Lewkowicz. "The only thing is that he got caught in the first round within the first minute of the fight, and he couldn't recuperate." Promoted by Lou DiBella, Martinez had to rise from the canvas during each of his previous two unanimous decision victories over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in September 2012, and Martin Murray last April, while also having suffered knee injuries, among others, as a result of those bouts. In between the ninth and 10th round, Martinez's trainer, Pablo Sarmiento did not allow the boxer to emerge from his stool, instead, electing to stop the fight. According to translations during HBO's replays of the exchange between Sarmiento and Martinez, the trainer told the boxer "Your knees are not working right, Sergio," and, "Your knees are not responding." But Lewkowicz said Martinez told him that his knees were not a factor. "Absolutely not. No knee What Sergio told me, precisely, is that he could not put his mind on his punches or on his legs or anything. Sergio told me that 'I tried to send the signal to my hands to move, and I tried to send a signal to my legs to move, but nothing was working,'" said Lewkowicz. "This was how he expressed it to me was that whatever he tried to do, it wasn't working. So Sergio fought eight and a half rounds only by heart and instinct, and not the calm and control that Sergio Martinez usually does. Sergio is a great fighter who fought only by instinct and heart." Prior to facing the 33-year-old Cotto (39-4, 31 KOs), Martinez was 7-0 with four knockouts since falling by majority decision to Paul Williams in December 2009, having avenged that loss by stopping Williams in the second round in November 2010. Among Martinez's other triumphs is a decision victory over Kelly Pavlik to win the WBC's belt for the first time, and knockouts of former titleholders Sergei Dzinziruk and Darren Barker as well as one over contender Matthew Macklin. Martinez also battled to a draw with two-time beltholder Kermit Cintron. After the Chavez fight, during which he regained the WBC's belt and also earned the WBO's title, Martinez received eight stitches to repair a cut over his left eye, two staples in his head, and suffered from both a broken left hand and torn ligaments in his right knee, the latter of which required surgery to repair. Martinez required a second surgery after having damaged the knee injury, later determined to be a torn right meniscus, during his triumph over Murray. Martinez is 35-2-1 with 22 knockouts since being stopped in the seventh round by Antonio Margarito in February 2000, and has been middleweight champion for four years since defeating Pavlik by unanimous decision in April 2010. DiBella said after the fight that he is not going to try to talk Martinez into retiring and that the decision belongs to the boxer, even as he said that Martinez won't lack for things to do outside of boxing if he decides to leave the sport. "The guy has a lot of heart," said DiBella. "But he wasn't the same after those three knockdowns in the first round." Martinez was the subject of a documentary that covers much of his career, starting from his days as an amateur through his victory over Chavez Jr. Martinez also met fellow Argentine Pope Francis at the Vatican last October, marking the first time since Muhammad Ali that a boxer has met The Pope. Lewkowicz has been with Martinez since the fighter's fourth-round knockout of Saul Roman in April 2007, a span of 16 fights over the course of which Martinez is 13-2-1, with nine stoppage wins. "I have known this champion for almost eight years now, and I wish that every one of the other champions had watched their money like Sergio did, because he's done it the right way and he can make a wise decision based not on the money, but on what on simply he wants to do," said Lewkowicz. "If Sergio makes a decision to retire, he doesn't need to work another day of his entire life. There are so many things that he can do. But I told him that whatever decision he makes, whether he has a farewell fight in Argentina to end his career, or another fight, or whatever he desires, we'll do our best to make it happen and to make his dream come true, or we will support him in whatever he chooses to do, next." http://rin gtv.craveonline.com/news/342699-sampson-lewkowicz-on-whats-next-for-sergio-martinez

Comments (20)

the eye test = bias & butt hurt losers. you have to put EVERYTHING in prospective. not just A eye test because what you thought you saw could have easily been a result of something else. now was martinez 100%? no. but when has martinez been 100%? against one of his biggest wins in chavez he wasn't 100%. the thing is if you strictly go by the "eye" test it will result in personal bias (you see what you want to see) it results in ignoring the shot that put sergio on queer street for the entire fight (his own words) & blaming it on knee pain. the eye test lets you ignore medical documents & vital information. I doubt you even know what the word 'perspective' means. How's this for persepective. After the Chavez Jr fight, it was public knowledge Sergio suffered a knee and hand injury. Going into the Murray fight, where Sergio looked god awful, the Team Martinez camp further admitted that Martinez was damaged goods going into the fight and would undergo another 2 knee surgeries at the age of 40. Less than 8 months before the Cotto fight Martinez was telling the public he could barely walk with crutches. Now less than half a year in, the Cotto fight has been signed. And Martinez begins training. You Cottotards actually believe that in 6 months Martinez at the age of 40, he can go from barely able to walk to fighting in a championship fight. A guy who's trademark style is explosive in and out movements....which requires good legs. Hmmm i wonder if it's because Martinez's knees are shot or it's because Cotto managed to find the elixir of youth with Freddie Roach.

11y ago

Curtiz

so martinez is suppose to perform the same way he did 2-3 years ago??? do u understand that a fighter age as time goes by? add that in with his prior injuries and u get a subpar martinez. No I'm not naive enough to expect him to perform like a young martinez. But I'm intelligent enough to watch & see a fighter that has a HUGE range of motion problems with his knees. I'm not even a fan of Martinez I just don't like barefaced lies like Cotto is some sort of 2nd coming of Tyson when the truth is.... He beat a cripple.

11y ago

MikeRo1972

What the hell? That things reads like a description of a severe concussion. But he says "only a broken nose" GTFOH.

11y ago

SweetPbfAli

the eye test = bias & butt hurt losers. you have to put EVERYTHING in prospective. not just A eye test because what you thought you saw could have easily been a result of something else. now was martinez 100%? no. but when has martinez been 100%? against one of his biggest wins in chavez he wasn't 100%. the thing is if you strictly go by the "eye" test it will result in personal bias (you see what you want to see) it results in ignoring the shot that put sergio on queer street for the entire fight (his own words) & blaming it on knee pain. the eye test lets you ignore medical documents & vital information. The issue you seem to have is that you feel it has to be one way or another and there's no grey area. I personally had no horse in the race but to act as if a 39 year old fighter coming off multiple knee surgeries, a hand surgery and 14 month layoff was what he once or always was is a bit ridiculous. We've all watched boxing long enough to have seen this story before. Now granted, there probably are some pro Serg or anti Cotto contingent who are really laying it on thick about Serg's injury to downplay Cotto's accomplishment but I feel it's a mixture of various variables that resulted in the outcome and we all should be able to weigh them objectively without slighting either fighter.

11y ago

Godsfly

The issue is that boxers are known to have a great ego and often are delusional regarding their own physical decline. There's a reason so many greats hang on far too long. I respect Sergio for not making excuses but sometimes you have to put things into perspective and also use the eye test. With all that being said, Cotto handled his business. the eye test = bias & butt hurt losers. you have to put EVERYTHING in prospective. not just A eye test because what you thought you saw could have easily been a result of something else. now was martinez 100%? no. but when has martinez been 100%? against one of his biggest wins in chavez he wasn't 100%. the thing is if you strictly go by the "eye" test it will result in personal bias (you see what you want to see) it results in ignoring the shot that put sergio on queer street for the entire fight (his own words) & blaming it on knee pain. the eye test lets you ignore medical documents & vital information.

11y ago

SweetPbfAli

Don't bother bruh, people are gonna believe what they want. There's not enough cold-cut proof in the world for you to convince some of these ignoramus'. In fact Martinez could go up to a podium in front of NSB users and they would call him a liar. I gave up. The issue is that boxers are known to have a great ego and often are delusional regarding their own physical decline. There's a reason so many greats hang on far too long. I respect Sergio for not making excuses but sometimes you have to put things into perspective and also use the eye test. With all that being said, Cotto handled his business.

11y ago

Daddy_T

he may not of injured them as it were but that doesn't mean they were under him. His movement right from the first bell was terrible and he had literally no strength in his legs at all. props to cotto for doing what needed to be done but lets not pretend he beat the martinez that fought chavez or pavlik.

11y ago

Jubei

I believe what i see with my own eyes and i saw someone who should have not entered the ring after all those injuries. He was "fine" for living a casual life, doing some light workout but no more for professional boxing. I wanted to believe the talk that he was 100% yadda yadda but thats all promotional talk, they had no other option, too much money on the line. That Martinez right there wasnt even a shadow of himself, he was afraid to move around the ring, no confidence in his legs and when he tried he stumbled around, looked totally awkward like a newborn giraffe. I am a fan of both fighters but i just hope Sergio retires. Cotto looked sensational (has alot to do with how bad Sergio looked, but still) but i think he will lose to Lara and Floyd, would be best for him to fight Canelo next where he has better chances. (i still favour Canelo in a close fight). GGG would beat him to a pulp.

11y ago

Godsfly

sergio recently came out and said that he felt chronic dizzyness..........he fought with chronic dizzyness after the first round which = him being off balanced for most of the fight. concussions in boxing are absolutely no joke & has zero to do with "handicapped knees" anyone who suffers chronic dizzyness in a fight will be out of it & their legs will go to jello. (that has absolutely nothing to do with knee pain) as sergio HIMSELF is telling you. "i fought with chronic dizzyness after the first round, not knee pain" the guy also had a broken nose for goodness sakes (probably received it in the 1st round) his medical reports backs his claims which leads me to believe sergio was telling the truth the entire time and wasn't trying to be the "bigger classy" man. end of discussion..............

11y ago

Dirk_Diggler_UK

this!! obviously his knees was never gonna be 100% again to compete at this level but it wasnt like he went into the fight with his knees already blown out like a lot of u guys are making it out to be. His movement was terrible from the first bell. His whole style depends on movement and using his legs to spring forward quickly with fast punches. He went into the fight handicapped in the sense that his knees won't allow him to fight the way he used to.

11y ago

Evol

yea but you need your legs at 100% to have any chance of winning against an experienced guy like Cotto. Especially for a guy like Martinez who likes to move in and out quickly of the pocket, his legs are his foundation. His knees were not re-injured but they weren't all there either, you could tell. His form of his previous fights is something he'll never regain. they werent all together but they didnt fell apart from him walking to the ring. he got worked and thats the cause of his knees falling apart on him. if he would have KO cotto in the 1st round we wouldnt even be hearing about this.

11y ago

jcj0427

this!! obviously his knees was never gonna be 100% again to compete at this level but it wasnt like he went into the fight with his knees already blown out like a lot of u guys are making it out to be. yea but you need your legs at 100% to have any chance of winning against an experienced guy like Cotto. Especially for a guy like Martinez who likes to move in and out quickly of the pocket, his legs are his foundation. His knees were not re-injured but they weren't all there either, you could tell. His form of his previous fights is something he'll never regain.

11y ago

Evol

He didn't re-injure his knees again = his knees were perfectly fine? His knees are obviously just never going to recover well enough from the original injuries for him to compete in professional boxing. It doesn't matter if he didn't re-injure them. They're done. this!! obviously his knees was never gonna be 100% again to compete at this level but it wasnt like he went into the fight with his knees already blown out like a lot of u guys are making it out to be.

11y ago

Dirk_Diggler_UK

11y ago

STREET_CLEANER

Bottom line is that Cotto got Martinez on the right time of his career. On top of being in good condition and under Roach he did what he had to do to win. It is a combination of Martinez's health, age and inactivity. But Cotto punches is what won the fight in the end

11y ago

Evol

Just because nothing shows upon an MRI doesn't mean the knees didn't give out. Half the time he fell down, the punch didn't even land clean or he merely tripped over Cotto's foot or over his own feet. When the trainer is telling him his knees aren't working, the guy knows what he's talking about, he spends everyday with him. Sergio even said "My knees wouldn't respond, my hands wouldn't respond". Whether there was added damage from this fight or not, he admitted things weren't responding correctly. since martinez knees was so bad how was he able to train all those time then??? can someone please explain this to me?? i mean his knees was so bad but yet he was able to train thruout the full training camp with zero issues. in the media day work out, he was moving fine, i think i even saw a few comments saying cotto is in for a tough night, martinez looks sharp, etc. LOL.

11y ago

Basco

Just because nothing shows upon an MRI doesn't mean the knees didn't give out. Half the time he fell down, the punch didn't even land clean or he merely tripped over Cotto's foot or over his own feet. When the trainer is telling him his knees aren't working, the guy knows what he's talking about, he spends everyday with him. Sergio even said "My knees wouldn't respond, my hands wouldn't respond". Whether there was added damage from this fight or not, he admitted things weren't responding correctly. Shaky legs (including knees) tend to be a very characteristic result of getting hit on the chin extremely hard. You should try it sometime!

11y ago

Evol

It's something you can never teach, Cotto fans will just keep saying we're making excuses but I have to be objective . If I see an injured fighter I'm not just going to lie for the sake of Cotto fanboys. Glad you can see what really happened bro. but before the fight it was cotto is gonna get ko! aint nothing roach can teach cotto that will help him. even after the open day media work out of martinez there was no comments about how martinez looks slow, martinez doesnt look healthy, etc. nope, none of that. instead u get the usual cotto is gonna get kill, martinez is gonna knock cotto out. then after the fight its the same ol' excuses. martinez was not 100%, he was injured, etc. LOL

11y ago

Evol

Anybody who's not retarded ( this does not include you), can see he is moving 100% differently. The size of the footgap, the speed partially, the balance. Also any knee surgery is serious, it affects EVERYTHING for a fighter. so martinez is suppose to perform the same way he did 2-3 years ago??? do u understand that a fighter age as time goes by? add that in with his prior injuries and u get a subpar martinez.

11y ago

Evol

That is what people don't get. It was not the same Martinez in that ring. Also, for Martinez its better to say that it was a punch than to say that my knees are all screwed ..... and the reason is that he has contemplation of fighting again and wants that window to remain open. If he lets on that he will look like that in his next fight, nobody will want to see him and he might as well call it the end of his career ..... I think he should retire but that is up to Martinez. of course its not the same martinez... its a 39yr old martinez. wtf do u guys expect? for a fighter to perform the same way he did in every fight???

11y ago