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by David P. Greisman - There will not be a rematch this year between Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Perhaps there shouldn’t be one at all.
It all depends on how well Martinez can recuperate from the injuries he suffered Saturday night against Martin Murray in what turned out to be a tough fight for the middleweight champion.
It was a tough fight because Murray, a capable contender, clearly had learned from the success that some of Martinez’s past opponents had found before they succumbed to defeat.
It was a tough fight because barely seven months had passed since Martinez had broken his left hand and torn ligaments in his right knee against Chavez last September. Surgery on that knee came in November, just five and a half months before Martinez stepped into the ring amid heavy rain and surrounded by tens of thousands in a soccer stadium in his native Argentina.
And it was a tough fight because Martinez might not have healed fully beforehand. He broke his left hand once again against Murray, and the normally mobile boxer appeared to be much slower and less fluid in his movement.
“Likely out remainder of the year,” wrote Martinez’s promoter, Lou DiBella, on Twitter mere hours after the bout. He then suggested that arthroscopic surgery could follow: “May scope knee.”
Martinez and DiBella can find solace in victory, in a determined fighter energized by adrenaline and motivated by adoration, his pride mattering more than the pain. It matters less that CompuBox statistics showed Murray outlanding Martinez both in total punches as well as power shots, or that Martinez landed far fewer than he had in his four most recent wins against Chavez Jr., Matthew Macklin, Darren Barker and Sergiy Dzinziruk. [Click Here To Read More]
It all depends on how well Martinez can recuperate from the injuries he suffered Saturday night against Martin Murray in what turned out to be a tough fight for the middleweight champion.
It was a tough fight because Murray, a capable contender, clearly had learned from the success that some of Martinez’s past opponents had found before they succumbed to defeat.
It was a tough fight because barely seven months had passed since Martinez had broken his left hand and torn ligaments in his right knee against Chavez last September. Surgery on that knee came in November, just five and a half months before Martinez stepped into the ring amid heavy rain and surrounded by tens of thousands in a soccer stadium in his native Argentina.
And it was a tough fight because Martinez might not have healed fully beforehand. He broke his left hand once again against Murray, and the normally mobile boxer appeared to be much slower and less fluid in his movement.
“Likely out remainder of the year,” wrote Martinez’s promoter, Lou DiBella, on Twitter mere hours after the bout. He then suggested that arthroscopic surgery could follow: “May scope knee.”
Martinez and DiBella can find solace in victory, in a determined fighter energized by adrenaline and motivated by adoration, his pride mattering more than the pain. It matters less that CompuBox statistics showed Murray outlanding Martinez both in total punches as well as power shots, or that Martinez landed far fewer than he had in his four most recent wins against Chavez Jr., Matthew Macklin, Darren Barker and Sergiy Dzinziruk. [Click Here To Read More]
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