Great post. I agree, he seemed to burst onto the world stage very late in his career. Didn't he start off at ww? IM sure he could have made some noise there before he moved up. Although he lost to Margarito very early in his career, that was 15 years go. Would have been great to see him mix it up with the likes of Pqcqiauo, Mosely, Canelo, Mayweather etc
He was a very fine fighter, and for a short period he set the middleweight division on fire. Happy retirement champ!
I guess you don't really rate Tiger, Benvenuti or LaMotta then. I feel like Martinez would struggle with those 3 and probably lose.
Kind of funny in a small world kind of way how both of his "don't read much into them" losses bookending his career were against Margarito & Cotto, two intense rivals that fought 1-1. ...and his only blemishes otherwise are the Williams robbery MD (someone that fought on even terms w/ Margarito, and was touted as potentially a Cotto opponent for ages) and the Cintron robbery draw (someone that Margarito owned twice over, and with his name often paired with Cotto's as the preeminent welters from PR of the post-Tito era) Crazy what a small world it really is, especially when you consider that all five of those men campaigned across four weight divisions over the course of a decade - with Cotto starting @ 140lb and finishing up now @ 160lbs with pit stops in the couple of divisions in between (147lb & 154lb - where Margarito, Williams, Cintron & Martinez all spent the enormous bulk of their careers) Four weight classes, that long a span of time - and we get that much incestuous and overlapping interweave between just 4-5 guys, with their careers all largely defined by said interconnectivity? Hagler, Leonard, Hearns, Duran & Benitez they aren't, just in terms of quality, obviously - but when since then have we seen anything like this?
As mentioned us Brits were lucky enough to catch him over a decade ago, beating comfortably twice, a fighter some of us were very high on (Richard Williams) as well as the exciting Adrian Stone. It is shame for whatever reason he could not then get the match ups required to make an impact for another five years, but when finally given the chance, he really did build a very solid resume. As for his place in the division's history: Again, as mentioned, the division is stacked, but I think time will help his resume and give him his dues. He is one of hundred finest 160lbers the sport has seen; that is a sign of an exceptional fighter.
Great point. People forget that Martinez had logged some decent work in the shadows overseas before he popped up, very late in his career, on American TV. :deal
The Chavez Jr fight was one of the best fights of that year. The tension was palpable throughout. You felt if Jr pinned him down he was going to get him out of there due to his massive size advantage and watching Sergio shut him out was amazing. You had to have seen it live. The energy from the audience was electrifying , especially in the 12th round. A great round of boxing. The poster Freddie Wak was there and said the place was shook to its foundations. Twas a great fight.
Chavez was never close to doing a damn thing, outside that one round. Huge gulf in class and not among Maravilla's best wins.
I think all three would have beaten Martinez. Tiger would have stalked him, ground him down and stopped him. Gene Fullmer would have manhandled him, Monzon and Hagler would have toyed with him before stopping him, and Joey Giardello would have outboxed him, just to name a few. Aside from that, he was a very good fighter,...just not in the company of the better middleweight champions of history.