He had power and the one thing that can't be taught and that was chin. Could have gone far if he applied himself. If I had to rate his career and performance I would say was a C fighter. His last name gave him opportunities that other lack luster fighters couldn't get.
I wouldn't say he sucked but he was literally just a bang average title holder who was full of juice to achieve what he did. He beat Andy Lee which is a solid win and Marco Antonio Rubio another good win not much of note outside of that was all dodgey how he got the title WBC did everything they could to take it from Martinez. Martinez, when they did eventually fight, boxed his head off for 11 rounds then dislocated his hip in the last round and nearly lost the fight. It also must be noted that he was most likely roided to the gills in his middleweight run and coming in around 190lbs to his fights so much bigger than most opponents. He got a gift vs Oisin ***an, he got a gift vs Carlos Molina x2, got a gift x2 vs Brian Vera so that's at least 5 extra losses he should have on his record. Did nothing above 160lbs where he was no longer a massive weight bully and got absolutely battered by Fonfara who was a top 10 light heavy when he fought him.
This is the answer. “Fighters who suck” don’t go 12 with Sergio Martinez and almost stop him in the process. Granted Sergio whipped his ass for 90% of that fight, but still, I feel my point stands. edit: Sergio was past prime, but still excellent. His last good performance iirc.
He was good enough, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. Plenty of exciting fights under his belt but like everyone else knows, his dedication just wasn’t there. I don’t remember the other fights all that well, but I clearly remember the second Vera fight and no way was it a gift.
Both of the fights were the same that's why there was a rematch. Probably a few more untelevised gifts he had as well. I fully expect him to get the call to fight Jake Paul next. Now if he knuckles down and actually gets fit for 8 rounds he can win that. If not it's another embarrassing night for him.
Had he pulled out that miracle 12th round comeback KO vs “Sexy Sergio” this conversation & his legacy would have a much different tone. he just didnt have enough training / discipline in the bank to pull it out.
Upon rewatch sometime within a couple of years I came to believe Zbik deserved it. Look at my posts re: his name as search keyword from 2015, 2018, 2020, etc and I've consistently held that it was a lucky day for JCCJ. There might be a complete rewatch scorecard floating around somewhere. I could give it another with fresh 2024 eyes but... it's hardly a treat.