Where was his hand speed and reflex? Couldn't take a body punch? Too many things deteriorated at the same time!
Everything you do is based off your feet. If you can't plant and move, you are a dead man walking, which was Sergio tonight.
He's been fighting slow middleweights, even Macklin a few fights ago gave him problems boxing at range.
It's a so overlooked aspect. Legs are the most important thing for a boxer. For every fighter. Every single champion have to be good legs and good footwork. It's the source for everything else.
The things is against Murray, Martinez knees was in better condition, had speed, reflex and power. So the surgery made his knees worse than before the Murray fight.
Or Cotto is elite and Martin Murray is not. Cotto played a role guys, stop trying to rob all his credit. Injuries contributed but Cotto is far more skilled than recent Martinez opponents.
Martinez relied a lot on speed. That always goes down with age. However, any decent boxer needs to use his legs to change levels and distance. The knees effected this.
It's not possible for surgery to make his knees worse. Unless of course he didn't rehab correctly or rushed it. I just don't think one can take a 14 month long lay off from the top levels of a sport at 39 and expect to come back stronger. He probably placed his body under a great deal of strain while he was at the top of his divsion in his mid-30's. Time finally caught up with him.
Martinez knees never responded, but Cotto also landed immediately, too. Martinez lost his reflexes, his speed, everything. Cotto also brought his A-game, which made him look even bigger tonight.
Martinez' knees are shot, he will retire. He knew before the fight, no wonder he refused to fight Golovkin. How HBO would like for Cotto to fight Golovkin, but will Cotto fight him? Pac stopped Cotto, made Cotto a bloody mess, Void lost some rounds vs. Cotto, but Roach was training Cotto this time. The old Martinez would have knocked Cotto out time takes it's toll, esp. injuries.........Golovkin will fight Geale next, is now in talks with Soliman to unify the titles............
You cant punch if you cant put weight or torque on your knee. He was falling off balance sometimes just from punching. He was barely able to keep standing even without getting hit. It was really sad and unfortunate to watch. Martinez has been such a great champ with a great career. No doubt that was his final fight. At least he got paid some and fought in front of a good crowd.