Sergio Martinez Legacy

[GrandpaBernard]

what immediately goes to mind when you hear the name?

He was a top fighter during the peak of my interest in watching boxing.

[Beercules]

Him and Gennady would've been awesome.


Not the crippled version doe.

[PulpFriction]

One of my fav fighters. Part of the reason i've been a huge fan of boxing was the Martinez-Williams II fight. I've been hooked ever since.

[Combat Talk Radio]

what immediately goes to mind when you hear the name?

Easy. Starting at 39:48. Goosebumps when I heard it the first time, especially since I understand Spanish anyway.

Boxing's Best: Cotto vs. Martinez

[daggum]

martinez finally was willing to fight ggg after the cotto fight and he had to go and lose what are the odds? oh wait he knew he could barely walk and would be destroyed so he could and did say anything he wanted.

[SunSpace]

He was a brilliant fighter, although not truly up to the hype that surrounded him (Cotto proved that). In his heyday, Sergio was equal to GGG's current level of hype. Personally, I saw through that, because his level of competition just wasn't on par with the best in the sport (similar to GGG's situation, although Martinez faced better opposition than GGG has). Nevertheless, fighters like Paul Williams were themselves mostly hype, so it was clear the situation would be different up against an elite. Of course, there's always the "Ghost," but we all knew his personal issues.

Either way, Cotto was a bad match-up for Martinez. Cotto destroys anybody who doesn't have some sort of extraordinary attribute(s) to keep him at bay. Examples are Pacquiao's strength, speed, and angles, Mayweather's speed, Margarito's plaster, and Canelo's rehydration size (although I believe Cotto beat Canelo). Martinez's attribute was movement, and that is Cotto's game. Miguel isn't Chavez; he was going to land his bombs.

And, yes, yes, I know about the knee. But everyone has injuries. Even Cotto has a bad right arm due to a traffic accident, which broke it in several places. And anyway, even in a prime-vs-prime match-up, I always thought Cotto would win. Everyone laughed at me over that (GGG-level-hype), but I knew what would happen.

Anyhow, Martinez still has to be respected. He's one of my favorite fighters ever. I mean, c'mon, a southpaw that moved like that? With that kind of power and technique? It's at least Zab Judah-level ability. And Zab is probably in my top 10 all-time favorites.

[Sp0rty Cr@ig]

Best memory is when he beat Pavlik as the underdog and the second Paul Williams fight.

Lol at the Cotto fan above. MArtinez was crippled bro. It wasnt just a small injury like you are implying

[SunSpace]

Best memory is when he beat Pavlik as the underdog and the second Paul Williams fight.

Lol at the Cotto fan above. MArtinez was crippled bro. It wasnt just a small injury like you are implying

A cripple wouldn't have been allowed to fight. That joke is getting old. Martinez himself wouldn't have fought had he really been crippled. Who would want to take a beating, if they don't truly think they can win? And, again, everyone has injuries. Cotto has a badly broken right arm with a titanium plate in it. I'm not implying anything other than all fighters go through and have injuries. It is what it is. Cotto does what he can with his arm. This is sports.

[HandsofIron]

What comes to mind you say? Him being an overrated hypejob.

[LacedUp]

I think of the Williams, Pavlik and Chaves jr fights.