I was edging Pavlik a bit, just because he was more proven at 160 and I wasn't sure Martinez would have the durability to stay strong through the fight. Things were actually going exactly as I thought until Martinez stepped it up, and started turning things around in the 8th, then beat the **** out of Pavlik in the 9th and from then on it was all Sergio.
i'm so happy, nobody deserves a legacy building win like this more then Martinez. In my eyes he shouldn't even have to rematch Pwill because he beat him the first time around 115-113. Long Live Maravilla!
A couple of posters were saying he had **** stamina, and would fold in the later rounds. I'll admit, he seemed to tire against Williams but who wouldn't with that many punches thrown against you? Just glad that he won tonight. :bbb:rasta
He looked tired against Williams but I don't think he fought all that tired. I think he and Williams split the final two rounds.
He blows his nose a lot, does a weird breath before a combination, and tends to coast the middle rounds, so I can see where they'd get that impression... but it's still the wrong impression. The man's always been a beast - watch some training camp clips (there should be some on YouTube) with him just breezing through full-out body assaults, then dropping guys with single shots.
Hell yeah. Round 9 was the ****. Props to Martinez. I'm pretty sure Pavlik said he wanted to quit and his trainer made him continue.
Went like I said it would. One demensional stalkers are nothing against speedy movers period. I knew Martinez would be able to expand off of what hopkins did and I knew Kelly was killing himself to make 160. That's what his ducking ass gets and his ducking ass team.
I could see things playing out like I thought, with Pav getting schooled for the opening rounds until Maravilla slowed down. Then I thought KP's advantage in size would end up paying dividends. Instead, I was proved wrong. Maravilla came on and took the fight away. He deserved to win the 9th 10-8 imo. That **** was crazy. Mad props to the guy for showing such determination and guts.