Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez hangs up his gloves

06/14/2015 Jeff Sorby

After suffering a bad knee injury that continued to plague him for the past three years, former two division world champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) has decided to call time on his boxing career and hang up his gloves after 18 years in the game. Martinez, 40, announced the news last Saturday at the IBHOF banquet.

The news from Martinez has been expected for weeks now, as he recently revealed that his right knee, which he has surgeries on, hasn’t responded to rehab. Martinez could have continued fighting, but he would have been fighting with only one good knee.

Roach: Sergio Martinez was at his best when Cotto beat him

08/17/201408/17/2014 Kevin Chittenden

WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach believes that former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez was in his prime when Cotto beat him and stopped him in the 10th round last June.

Roach doesn’t seem willing to admit that Martinez had slipped dramatically from the fighter he was in 2010 and before that by the time that Cotto fought him this year.

Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez Decides to Continue Boxing Career

07/20/201407/19/2014 DiBella Entertainment

After lengthy discussions with members of his team, now-former WBC Middleweight Champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez has decided to continue his boxing career.

Determined to return and erase the terrible memory of what happened against fellow-great Miguel Cotto in June, 39-year-old Martinez will next face a top-10 contender with the goal of recapturing his world title.

“Miguel De Pablos (Business Manager) and I met with Sergio at his home in Madrid and he says he is 100% healthy and ready to do what it takes to return to the very top of boxing,” said Martinez advisor Sampson Lewkowicz.

Boxing & Broken Promises

02/21/202306/11/2014 Vladimir S

A great performance is like a promise; a promise from the boxer to the fans … read more

Miguel Cotto gifts boxing fans a thrilling future

06/10/201406/09/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

Sometimes boxing hands its fans surprises, outcomes that open doors to more exhilarating fights, and this is something that every boxing fan can appreciate and treasure. There are too many people out there, claiming that boxing is a lost sport, bringing less entertainment and claiming a miniscule number of new fans. While sometimes even I start believing such rumors, its fights like Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez that change my mind, bringing my thought back to where they belong: appreciating the sport and seeing it flourish.

Weeks leading up to the fight, it was clear that the majority of boxing community expected Sergio Martinez to win the fight. Why? Some claimed that he was simply a fresher fighter, with better footwork and ring generalship. Truth be told, I was one of those people. Rummaging through various forums, I found that loads of boxing fans wholeheartedly believed that Cotto was simply too old and had been through too many wars. Some suggested that he was now devoting too much time to the business aspect of his career, and that maybe it would be wise for Miguel to hang up the gloves and dive into his promotional endeavors.

Sergio Martinez Ought to Hang It Up

06/10/201406/09/2014 Paul Strauss

It’s not much of a surprise Miquel Cotto was victorious over Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez. After all, the experts openly expressed their concerns over Martinez’ fourteen month absence from the ring. They were concerned about Sergio’s troublesome knee and shoulder injuries, plus a broken hand? His body seemed to be breaking down. Despite Sergio’s assurances, many experts doubted whether he could come back and regain his previously superb condition and superior abilities?

We now know they were right. However, even Cotto and Freddie Roach had to have been surprised by how easy it was for Cotto to get Sergio on queer street. For pete’s sake, Sergio was wobbled with Cotto’s first left hook! It was baffling? What a predicament Sergio was in! The opening bell had barely stopped ringing! This lineal world middleweight champion from Argentina had never been in such a dilemma.

Miguel Cotto: Leverage

06/09/2014 Robert Jackson

Congratulations to Miguel Cotto the Lineal middleweight champion. Not too long ago Cotto turned down a cool $10M guarantee from Canelo Alvarez to instead fight Sergio Martinez then recognized as THE middleweight champion. Why Cotto turned down this offer was a calculated risk on the former 154lb champions part. Having previously lost to Mayweather and then losing again to Austin Trout in an upset, there was no way that Cotto would carry his skills and power up to 160lbs and beat Martinez, or could he?

Why then would Cotto embark on an endeavor that many even the odds makers saw as a ‘fool’s errand’? Cotto always saw himself as the A-side but against some of the elite fighters always came up short. Against Canelo, Cotto would’ve been the B-side, even with $10M in his pocket, and Alvarez would’ve made twice that. So what other’s saw as ‘fools gold’, Miguel Cotto and more importantly Freddie Roach saw as the ‘pot of gold’ and the end of the rainbow. Stepping up and beating the lineal middleweight champion would propel Miguel Cotto to the highest heights of his 14 year career and return him to the A-side status he always believed himself to be.

Miguel Cotto dethrones Sergio Martinez by RTD 10 – a state of the art assault and battery

06/09/201406/09/2014 Ivan Ivanov

This was a bright sunshiny day for boxing and the bout brought memories of the golden days of boxing – a sold out Garden, two gladiators without any “0s” to protect and seemingly free of corporate clog and Swiss bank restraint jackets.

Another great ingredient was the job done by the referee. If you didn’t catch his name or even notice him most of the time than he did a rare feat – he did his job right without even touching the boxers. The most impressive thing a referee can do is remain unobtrusive and unimposing. Michael Griffin set a very high standard and quietly outclassed noisy star referees who won’t stop hollering and physically engage the fighters with the risk of injury to all parties.

Miguel Cotto: Puerto Rico’s Shining Star

06/09/201406/08/2014 Paul Jones

By Justin Jones — Manhattan, NY – If there was any doubt surrounding Miguel Cotto’s (39-4, 32 KOs) future hall of fame status, or uncertainty about who his signature victory would be against–as all the greats possess–last night’s stoppage of former middleweight kingpin Sergio Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) was it ladies and gentleman.

Cotto proved to truly be Puerto Rico’s finest as he became the island’s first boxer to ever win a title in four different weight classes. What’s more impressive about the dominating performance is that he achieved the historic feat at Madison Square Garden (MSG), the world’s most famous arena, in front of a packed house of more than 20,000–the majority of them consisting of prideful and supportive fellow Puerto Ricans. Keep in mind he did this against one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world previously, and on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade. Most of all and frankly, the fight wasn’t even close.

Cotto dominates Martinez; Lee stops Jackson; Sonsona defeats Vazquez Jr

06/08/201406/07/2014 Jeff Sorby

Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KO’s) accomplished his goal in winning a fourth division world title in defeating a very, very old looking WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KO’s) in stopping him 6 seconds into the 10th round tonight to capture his WBC 160lb. title at Madison Square Garden, in New York.

Martinez was hurt in the opening minute of the fight by a powerful left hook from Cotto, and he never recovered from it. Cotto went on to knock a badly shaken Martinez 3 times in the 1st round, and a final time in the 9th in a 4-knockdown performance.

The fight was stopped at the start of the 10th round by Martinez’s trainer Pablo Sarmiento.