Sergio Martinez explains injuries and how he'd fight Golovkin w/ Juan Manuel Marquez

Original video can be found here:

http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/videohub/video/clipDeportes?id=1837736&cc=3888

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Sanchez: Here we are in the Golpe A Golpe Ring with Marquez and Maravilla. (They joke about him being the ref and them ganging up on him with shots.) First off Sergio, what happened; you hurt your hand…?

Martinez: Against Murray, very easily. For the first 5 rounds, Murray’s guard was very tight. One of my shots hit him directly on the elbow (throws straight left downstairs), and after that moment, the hand was broken.

JMM: Also, I saw Murray moving his waist, with a very tight guard, coming close, so obviously when you threw that shot it landed directly on the elbow.

Martinez: I needed to make space to get my hand in, so I threw to the body, and made a mistake.

JMM: And the knee, how did that go?

Martinez: The knee (pain) had been coming for months, and finally on that day, lots of discomfort, lots of humidity from the rain, and that was the last drop that did it. So I think the operation, working and training hard…that day, I thought I’d be fine, I should have been fine, but there was a lot of discomfort, and over the course of the fight, it became very painful.

JMM: And the shoulder was the same? You already had it?

Martinez: The shoulder bothered me a bit, it started a few days before the fight, but became very painful.

JMM: Was it from a punch that you hurt yourself?

Martinez: It was probably from a sparring session, a work overload. I think when one works very hard, the body reaches its maximum, and sometimes it breaks. It happens.

Sanchez: You’re athletes of high intensity, at any moment you can injure yourselves. But now, taking advantage that Sergio Martinez is here, speaking of Middleweights, this Saturday we’re going to see Mathew Macklin fight Gennady Golovkin. How do you have to fight Golovkin in order to find opportunities? Because he’s a beast in the ring who comes for you looking for the knockout, Sergio.

Martinez: Well, from my point of view, I’d have to fight a fight where I’m moving similar to how Floyd Mayweather moves. What I mean is, to be at long range (outstretches lead arm), but in that moment where the opponent goes to close the distance (JMM closes in), Mayweather steps backward, still keeping the distance which favors him.

JMM: Yes, because what Gennady Golovkin does is comes forward, he’s a frontal fighter. He looks to exchange, and I think a fighter with the style of a Maravilla Martinez, who moves and changes direction, is one who can do damage to Golovkin.

Sanchez: Can you fight against Golovkin with your hands down like you do Sergio?

Martinez: Yes, as long as I keep the right distance, yes. If not, it’s a playing Russian roulette.

JMM: How would you do it Sergio? What measure of distance do you need to maintain against Golovkin?
Martinez: The ring is too small (laughs)

Sanchez: Here, I’ll carry you (laughs)

JMM: We can do it right here because we know your knee is hurt. (Comes forward with high guard)

Martinez: (Outstretches lead hand and steps back and forth) First of all, I can’t give you all the (space for) attack. You don’t have to give Golovkin the whole attack. Because otherwise, he’ll come on too heavy and it will be impossible to brake him. (Laughs about breathing heavy from being out of shape). If you give him too much rope, too much distance (leans back), he’ll end up overwhelming you. So you have to keep away, but right there (stays at arms length). Not get too confident, but you also have to work (as in throw punches); it’s a fight in which I have to move, not a little, but just right there, and work to keep him preoccupied with his defense, so that it’s not so easy.

Sanchez: That left hand has to come out straight and fast in order to keep at bay the train that tries to run you over.

Martinez: The shots to the body are fundamental as well.

JMM: The lateral steps is also very important against those types of opponents, changing direction so you can counter-punch them, and those do a lot of damage to frontal fighters, especially with a small backstep as they come forward…

Martinez: Golovkin is right there ready to receive the counter-punch. The trick is to resist the physical strength he has.

JMM: Sergio, with a frontal fighter, using lateral steps, if you move this way (Martinez gets side angle with lead foot outside and lines up left), you have him right there.

Martinez: Yes, you take away the angle.

JMM: You take away the angle, and open up the opportunity to throw 3, 4 punches. But, well, logically, that’s something you need to know how to do, and you have to have the ability to do so as well.

Martinez: Exactly.