Sergio Martinez is Slick?

[Malik Kaya]

Slick and White. Deal with it

[BornToLive]

He is a slick puncher with a awkward offence.

A lot of people think 'Slick' is JUST about rolling punches & ducking, weaving while getting low...well it's not.

[ImStillHere]

The Margarito fight took place in 2000 (Feb. 19), Sergio had only been a pro for 2 years (went pro at age 22-23) and that was his first fight outside of Argentina (also his 16th fight). Margarito had been a pro for 6 years (w/25 fights, 12 in the U.S.) and was only a year away from his first title fight. A bit like Rosado and other fighters who make it from the bottom, he was a part time boxer who had to work several jobs to sustain his boxing career.




Sergio is actually not that easy to hit. If you watch most of his fights there's usually a pattern, he looks excellent in the first 4 rounds were he hardly get's touched, then he takes a break in the middle rounds (this is where he usually get's hit) and then finishes very strong in the championship rounds.

In the first four rounds, against Pavlik he outlanded Kelly 61-38 and closed strong in the last 4 outlanding him 112-51. Against Cintron, he only got hit 103 times over 12 rounds, against Bunema he got hit 31 times over 8 rounds, against Macklin 134 over 11 rounds, against Chavez Jr (prior to the last 2 rounds) Sergio only hit 113 times over 10 rounds. Keep in mind that a very good defensive fighter like Andre Ward (in a division with a lower punch output) got hit over 200 times by Sakio Bika (17 punches per round) and only outlanded Abraham 178-158.

I don't see Sergio as a very good (or slick) defensive fighter, he's lateral movement is best for lowering his opponents output by keeping them out of range and/or forcing them the reset their offense; his head movement is also pretty good. I do think he is offensively slick though and very good at setting up counterpunches, hitting his opponents flush when they miss and catching them as their coming in w/punches they don't see.

Sergio hurt Williams pretty badly badly in the first fight (dropped him pretty hard), prior to KO'ing Williams in the second time he had been landing the counter overhand left several times. Williams fought Lara right after the brutal Martinez KO, Lara is not the type of fighter you want for a comeback tune-up. Even then it was a competitive fight and Lara's face showed damage (baseball-sized bump). Under the same premise you could argue that Lara isn't slick because he was getting hit flush by Angulo.




I think Sergio is much more offensively slick than he is defensively slick. His defense is not that bad though, unlike other counter-punching movers like Lara, Vasquez, Linares, etc. Sergio can fight on the inside and fight off the ropes (on the very few occasions he's had to). Saunders is not 'slicker' than Sergio, I'm sure he'd get he'd get hit more if he fought Sergio's level of opposition.

And you only get "berated with insults" on this site when you criticize Mayweather or Mexican fighters.

Great reply. Agree with everything you said to a degree. I suppose I'm expecting to much. Expecting everyone to be Floyd. But I disagree with the Lara assessment, that was not from a punch.

[New England]

no way.


sergio is fast / athletic. slick is about using tricks, being negative, getting out of the way for the sake of avoiding contact. martinez uses his speed to control the tempo of the fight offensively and defensively. at his best he was an offensive southpaw with some of the fastest feet you are ever going to see.

[ImStillHere]

Slick and White. Deal with it

I'm white. Did you not see the bit at the end there asking what you thought about that stigma?

[BafanaBafana]

Slick is subjective, it's not a fact or fiction.

But given by my terms of slickness, sly footwork, good head movement, good speed, can swim without getting wet... he's decently slick... his slickness is depleting though.

That's a good definition, that's kinda how I see it too. It is as you say a subjective term though and some people have ridiculous ideas of what slickness is.

[ImStillHere]

no way.


sergio is fast / athletic. slick is about using tricks, being negative, getting out of the way for the sake of avoiding contact. martinez uses his speed to control the tempo of the fight offensively and defensively. at his best he was an offensive southpaw with some of the fastest feet you are ever going to see.

This was my original thought, but you have to admit there is a bit of slickness to the way he operates. I mean "slick" as in stylish.

[ImStillHere]

That's a good definition, that's kinda how I see it too. It is as you say a subjective term though and some people have ridiculous ideas of what slickness is.

So you disagree with New England assessment?

Think of it this way, Duran was slicker than Martinez is without going backwards and trying to look flashy. I think slick is just a too open a phrase.

[Doctor_Tenma]

no way.


sergio is fast / athletic. slick is about using tricks, being negative, getting out of the way for the sake of avoiding contact. martinez uses his speed to control the tempo of the fight offensively and defensively. at his best he was an offensive southpaw with some of the fastest feet you are ever going to see.

Don't think I've ever responded to any of what Martinez does as slick. Yep, pretty much the bold.

[Doctor_Tenma]

So you disagree with New England assessment?

Think of it this way, Duran was slicker than Martinez is without going backwards and trying to look flashy. I think slick is just a too open a phrase.

Erik Morales had more slickness to him than Martinez, people don't even acknowledge how slick Morales was in luring fighters into counters. Same goes for Marquez in a sense, the way Marquez would give the impression that he's gonna step in against Pacquiao, Pacquiao then taking the bait causing him to lunge in as Marquez is stepping back, Marquez then countering....the process of all that, that's slick.