Martinez amazing right hook

I thought his left hand is what won him the fight, Pavlik hand no answer for it...When Martinez did throw it.....He stop throwing it, and Pavlik won 3 rounds in a row....He comes out with a sense of urgency and the left hand shows back-up again...

 

What I could not believe was how he was able to get that close to Pavlik without paying for it.

 

I noticed that too, and Pavlik realized he had to get inside on Martinez to try and win....Then KP fought Sergio's fight, which is at the distance....That was the major mistake right from the start from Pavlik.....He was a sitting duck from a distance against Sergio....

 

Irtonically, I was expecting him to use the right hook more. He did use it to good effect sometimes but not in as devastating a fashion as when he was teeing off PW with it. This night I think was mostly the right jab and the straight left. Pavlik had no answers for Martinez' sneaky straight left.



Also, Martinez was able to get inside Pavlik cuz he ducked or slipped a good percentage of Pav's right hands. Don't get me wrong. By no way does Martinez have an iron chin and Pavlik did hurt him the few times he landed cleanly. You CAN get Martinez out of there if you land a couple of heavy shots in succession. Thing is, it's hard to hit him consistently cuz he's very slippery and has good defensive reflexes.

 

The very effective right hook early on was a big surprise. Particularly the follow-through, he really pushed it down and into Pavlik's chin when he unloaded it, stepping into it - but was still able to get out of harm's way to avoid counters (early on, that is).

 

Martinez didn't really throw alot of right hook though. It was mostly the straight left hand. The first round when Martinez land a left hand 3 straight time in a row right on Pavlik face was a thing of beauty.

 

Not a lot but enough of them to tip the scoring his way - and they caught Kelly's attention in the first 3-4 rounds. If you missed them you missed some sweet technique. Watch again ASAP.

 

I thought it was more of the straight left hand in which he began to actually drive through whereas he would sort of flick it out and not put much more power in the earlier rounds.

 

I thought it was as well.

 

I didn't really think that was a hook. I thought it was sort of an odd punch. Didn't look like it "hooked" to me really. Looked more like a relative of Glenn Johnson's jab. I'll have to watch it again. He did do some good enough body work that I thought went largely unsung and maybe just unnoticed by the commentators by the way.

 

You're right, it wasn't what I would call a hook. It was a strange punch. It was somewhere between a hook and a jab, but it was done whilst he was on the move to his right, i.e. with his weight going away from the punch. It landed a lot but it wasn't a devastating punch by any means, it was more of a little tap as he moved laterally. It was primarily a punch that just kept Pavlik off balance and distracted Pav from his own offence. When Pavlik was dominant in the middle rounds it was bascially the only punch that Martinez could land and to me was more an indication of how ineffective he was in the middle rounds, given that this punch on the run was his only effective option. What was far more impressive was the way Martinez changed his gameplan in the latter rounds and went from his reliance on lateral movement on the outside to getting in middle range and firing constant combinations.

 

Overhand right?
a similar punch Is called a cuban hook in the amatuers.

 

It's a hook.

He doesn't really throw any of his punches the way they appear in the textbook figures.

It's still a non-jab with his lead hand (so a hook by default) and if you watch in frame by frame slow-motion for those technologically advanced enough to have recorded the action in DVR, the punch is still the equivalent of a pitcher's "curveball". It just curves very fast. He also turns his lead hip into it (hallmark trait of a hook), but again he does so almost imperceptibly fast while strafing laterally.

The guy defies physical laws that govern most boxers' movements.

 

Counter right hook couldn't miss; evident by Pavlik's left eye.