My take on last night's fight

:rofl:rofl:rofl



It was a factor from the first minute !
:-(

 

Sergio didn't want to make excuses and take away from Cotto's win, but his whole defense is based on mobility - he doesn't know how to keep his right hand up to protect against the left hook. In the past he would have moved his head or used his legs to get out of there. He couldn't. Whether it was his knee or not, his slow leg movement allowed Cotto to clock him cleanly, and he never learned how to block the left hook.

His loss is entirely due to his lack of mobility. When he can't move, he isn't great, as the 12th round against Chavez proved. Stuck in the ropes for a second, messed up badly.

 

Nice analysis. I was planning to post my take as well, but took the time and didn't want to post any comments right after the fight.

I wasn't sure who to pick prior to the fight and it was not just because of Sergio's knee (which was quite possibly a big factor in their fight). I ended up putting all of my vCash on Martinez.

The point is, Sergio was never a well schooled boxer to begin with. But he is very smart, and knew how to use his natural talents such as speed and reflexes very well. When those attributes were taken away from him, he had almost nothing left to rely on.

During the fight, from the very first second, Martinez wasn't mobile. After Cotto first caught him, Sergio's legs were immediately gone. It wasn't like he was so hurt that he was barely aware of what's happening. He was fully aware for the whole time, but it seemed like his legs couldn't hold him taking punches.

I never tracked the situation about his knee closely, and I still don't know it in a great detail, but his knee seemed like a big problem in the fight.

However, even if his knee and legs were okay, I think that he would have major problems with Cotto anyway. Sergio didn't have the handspeed and reflexes he once had, and even with a healthy knee, I'm not sure if he could have defeated Cotto last Saturday. Cotto was just too fast and knew exactly what he had to do, and I agree that he simply outclassed Martinez.

Cotto achieved an amazing feat, winning the title in his 4th division, and the way he defeated the middleweight champion was impressive. What should he do next? I'm not sure. I don't think that he belongs in the middleweight division, despite probably being able to defeat some of the top guys. If he wants to establish himself in the division, obviously Golovkin is the man to fight, but I'm not sure if that will happen. Either way, Cotto just made history, and as far as I'm concerned, he could retire tomorrow, there is almost nothing left for him to achieve.

 

And I guess you think that boxers always believe what they're telling you.
atsch

 

Agreed. The knee was certainly a factor. To what degree only Martinez knows, in classy style, refused to use it as an excuse at all. It may have been a large factor, or not.

I would say what isn't being mentioned enough is the work Roach hss done with Cotto's left hook. It was good before, but it seems Roach has turned it into a devastating weapon. Made some improvements on the straight right as well.

 

Even Sergio himself probably didn't know what a factor it was because he tries to block it out.

 

"my knees are 100% healed"
"i'll knock him out in 9"

 

Was he supposed to say my knees are busted and I will probably lose but I will have go.

 

This fight was reminiscent of some other fights, like Oleg Maskaev vs Derrick Jefferson and just a few days ago Daniel Martz vs Alexis Santos. Both favorites lost in those fights. It is like fighting with one hand behind your back. You can't get any leverage. You are easily knocked off balance. If you are real big puncher, you do have a chance at landing a haymaker, which is why Jefferson was in that fight until he could no longer stand, but Martinez is not a KO artist, so he essentially had no chance of winning the fight with Cotto.

I am surprised more people are not clued in to how crucial this is. It is almost impossible for a fighter who is a mover-boxer to win.

 

he should have conceded that his knees were shot pre-fight and pulled out, but no he scammed us all into believing he was healthy and fought a scam fight for the payday. any kind of pre-fight sparring would have shown how shot he was. a strong wind would have knocked him down with that peg leg. the guy needed training wheels to keep his balance for crying out loud!!!

 

This is what gets me, the amount of posters here who acted like the knee wasn't even injured was ridiculous. I know some people are Cotto fans and take it personally when their fighter isn't given credit and I understand that this is a tough thing. I'm a Cotto fan and I can emphatically say that anyone in the division could have beaten Martinez last night. It's just amazing how many people are either in denial about the knee or let their emotions get the best of them.

There are countless other examples of situations in the past where we've seen similar splits in how people think. (Mayweather - Canelo catchweight for one) On these message boards you really see how fans can get set in their mind over something in boxing and will argue it until the end. What gets me is the obviousness of the injured knees of Martinez. Like, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how impaired he was in the ring without the ability to plant his feet and move like we are used to seeing for Martinez.

The OP in this thread said "that knee wasn't a factor until past the 6th round". That's what I mean about just taking a stance that is clearly against what is abundantly obvious to everyone. The knee was a factor before the 6th round. The knee was a factor in his training, the knee was a factor when he woke up, the knee was a factor psychologically, the knee was a factor in the opening round. The injured knees affected everything about Martinez as a fighter, from his preparation to his in-ring tactics. Some people have even pointed to the fact that "his knee didn't buckle" as proof that the knee wasn't a problem. That's just it, Martinez had to basically tip-toe around the ring because he was so worried about it buckling and breaking again. It is a very serious injury and it seriously impaired his ability to perform vs Cotto. It honestly sucks, I was really bummed about it. But to argue about how the knee wasn't really injured or getting pissed at people who bring it up is just ridiculous.

 

Do other fighters not get jelly legs when hit by a big punch?

 

To say he was babying his knees for fear of injury is akin to saying another fighter was in defense mode the whole time for fear of being KO'd. This is not what champions do, they go out on their shield, make sense?