Boxing 2014

[Spy Bee]

What time will the Brian Rose fight be on next Saturday? Have you seen how much fucking sport is on? My arse ain't leaving the sofa all day and night!

[dickie mint]

What time will the Brian Rose fight be on next Saturday? Have you seen how much fucking sport is on? My arse ain't leaving the sofa all day and night!

It'll be early hours it's In New York,don't worry there's a match on at 2 in the morning so you'll be watching that after the other 3 games on Saturday night,the us open and the racing on aswell looks liks a boss Saturday,ale and bet onyou can't wack it mate.

[DanDanShaw]

What time will the Brian Rose fight be on next Saturday? Have you seen how much fucking sport is on? My arse ain't leaving the sofa all day and night!

 

This one SHOULD be on at 3am.  I thought that with Cotto/Martinez but HBO had it later than usual (for NY) so it was the same time as most PPV are in Vegas.  And I haven't excite me - I need to stay in, lads holiday on the 25th so I'm trying to keep myself off the ale until then.

 

So far, I've been off the ale since about 11pm yesterday.

[Spy Bee]

I'd love to see him win. I've not seen a huge amount of Andrade. I know he's fancied, but I know he's also been on his arse!

[Spy Bee]

‏@EddieHearn  1m

For those asking..terms have been agreed for @SpecialKBrook to face Porter..contracts signed in next 24/48 hours and then an announcement

[DanDanShaw]

 

‏@EddieHearn  1m

For those asking..terms have been agreed for @SpecialKBrook to face Porter..contracts signed in next 24/48 hours and then an announcement

 

 

Hearn is very slow with this news, GBP already confirmed August 9th in New York as the venue/date.  Kell Brook even tweeted it himself.

[index1000]

I don't think Ovill has ever won a fight that's gone past the 6th (that's what they said on Boxnation) - so that backs up your point perfectly haha!

 

Yeah I really like Saunders, he's wasted a lot of his career.  He had dedication issues, he loved a good ale/drug session in Marbella ha but seems to be focused now (ironic because he's moved to Marbella permanently now) since he started training at the MGM (Macklin Gym Marbella).  I don't think he'll move up anytime soon and Frankie is too lazy to make 140 so I can't see a fight between them yet, but maybe a couple of years down the line.  I want to see Saunders take Woodhouse's British title, or Limond's commonwealth but both ducked him (to fight each other).  I think Frank will make the winner of Woodhouse/Limond an offer they can't refuse to face Saunders.  I didn't see him in the AMs but hear he had a very good amateur career? 

 

What did you make of Eubank Jr?  I hate him, he's so arrogant and lazy - I don't say this often, but I can't wait until he steps up and gets destroyed.  The whole circus with his dad in his corner is embarrassing.  Eubank Sr said that the only 160-168 on the planet who could beat Jr is Andre Ward, he said Jr would stop GGG in 5 rounds hahahahahaha!

I couldn't believe my ears when he said that !!!also will someone please shove that monocle up his arse. The bad news is it looks like another one is on the way with his youngest son Sebastian... god help us three of the bastards

[Spy Bee]

Massive step up in class for Brook. This should find out whether he's got the minerals!

[DanDanShaw]

Brook's gunna get stopped.  Porter is a serious fighter, he's relentless and punches with power (not one punch knockout power).  I'm saying Brook gets finished in 6 rounds - then blames weight.  2 of his last 3 fights have been at a catchweight of 152 - he clearly struggles to make 147.

 

Funny little stat - Paul Butler has turned pro, won the British, Commonwealth and World Title belts, since Kell Brook was first made mandatory for the WBO World Title.

[Captain Turdseye]

DanDan, you've convinced me to bet on Brook to win. Nice one.

[DanDanShaw]

DanDan, you've convinced me to bet on Brook to win. Nice one.

 

Haha, I suppose when Porter faced Alexander - if you'd asked Brook who he'd rather of faced, he'd of said Porter.  But Porters good win against Alexander and destruction of Paulie changed the opinions of a lot of people.  I forgot Ruslan Provodnikov was headlining the Brian Rose card, I was maybe going to record it and catch it in the morning - but I'll stay up now Provodnikov is hilarious.

[DanDanShaw]

 

I don't think this is quite what Bellew's trainer meant when he said "Let your hands go, and start landing downstairs."

[index1000]

See price came through a 10 round fight at the weekend with a unanimous decision apparently will be back fighting in Liverpool in September

[DanDanShaw]

See price came through a 10 round fight at the weekend with a unanimous decision apparently will be back fighting in Liverpool in September

 

It would probably have been a world title fight this September, if he'd been managed correctly.  Moronic to step somebody up from Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton to Tony Thompson, twice.

[Boss]

He should stay away from Liverpool, it never does him any favours only brings unnecessary pressure and expectation. He was gassed by the 3rd round against Thompson, i've never seen a professional fighter gas that early. Either he does no conditioning or road work whatsoever which is highly doubtful or the anxiety of fighting in front of a hometown audience of thousands really affects him. 

 

He should go to America, run the gauntlet of Friday Night Fights, he's not world level, he's not even fringe world level, he needs to learn how to fight properly and at 30 years of age it's embarrassing that he doesnt know that already. First time doing 10 rounds at 30 years old, who is managing his career? 

[DanDanShaw]

He should stay away from Liverpool, it never does him any favours only brings unnecessary pressure and expectation. He was gassed by the 3rd round against Thompson, i've never seen a professional fighter gas that early. Either he does no conditioning or road work whatsoever which is highly doubtful or the anxiety of fighting in front of a hometown audience of thousands really affects him. 

 

He should go to America, run the gauntlet of Friday Night Fights, he's not world level, he's not even fringe world level, he needs to learn how to fight properly and at 30 years of age it's embarrassing that he doesnt know that already. First time doing 10 rounds at 30 seriously?

 

Callum Smith is the best fighter from Liverpool, by considerable distance.

 

Yeah I agree, but he's in Germany now doing the same - probably better as well because the Sauerland's are bringing him on slowly.  I don't think it was the pressure of fighting at home, I just don't think any amount of training or roadwork can prepare you for the actual thing.  It's good for ticket sales and TV exposure to be blasting people out in 1/2 rounds - but as soon as you step up and fight somebody who won't be blasted out you're fucked.

 

He gassed so early, it was embarrassing really.  The first fight should have been a lesson, they should have started sticking him in with durable opponents (and people he'd blast out) - loads of fighters have lost early on in their careers, you just chalk it off due to inexperience.  Trying to avenge the loss was stupidity at its finest. 

 

Wlad got beat by Ross Puritty and sparked by Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster but they didn't rematch any of them, just learned the lessons and now look at him.  Callum Smith would destroy older brother Paul, Rocky Fielding and even the blown up Bellew in the same night - frightening talent.

[Kevin D]

Price had Thompson on the deck, badly hurt and was very close to stopping him.

[SammyAftershave]

This one SHOULD be on at 3am.  I thought that with Cotto/Martinez but HBO had it later than usual (for NY) so it was the same time as most PPV are in Vegas.  And I haven't excite me - I need to stay in, lads holiday on the 25th so I'm trying to keep myself off the ale until then.

 

So far, I've been off the ale since about 11pm yesterday.

 

Meet your brother.....It's a start.

[Boss]

Yeah I agree, but he's in Germany now doing the same - probably better as well because the Sauerland's are bringing him on slowly.  I don't think it was the pressure of fighting at home, I just don't think any amount of training or roadwork can prepare you for the actual thing.  It's good for ticket sales and TV exposure to be blasting people out in 1/2 rounds - but as soon as you step up and fight somebody who won't be blasted out you're fucked.

 

He gassed so early, it was embarrassing really.  The first fight should have been a lesson, they should have started sticking him in with durable opponents (and people he'd blast out) - loads of fighters have lost early on in their careers, you just chalk it off due to inexperience.  Trying to avenge the loss was stupidity at its finest. 

 

Wlad got beat by Ross Puritty and sparked by Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster but they didn't rematch any of them, just learned the lessons and now look at him.  Callum Smith would destroy older brother Paul, Rocky Fielding and even the blown up Bellew in the same night - frightening talent.

 

Yeah the second fight was stupid in hindsight, but at the time they blamed it on the broken ear drum which caused him to lose his equilibrium and disregarded it. It wasn't a fight you could really analyse because it was over so quickly. I hope he does become a world champion of some description one day, i like him, but i really can't see it.

 

Callum Smith is the truth, Joe Gallagher is the truth as well and it's not going to be long until he's considered a top trainer in his own right, could end up being to the North West what Robert Garcia is to Oxnard. I love his pad work, he has this thing which is quite unique were his fighters catch a shot and throw a counter with the same hand all in one move, his pad work's great.

 

 

You can see at 1.02 of the video, i've seen the uppercuts before, the Mayweather's do the same thing but catching the right hook with the left hand then throwing the left hook, and the same with the right, it's simple stuff, but it's a great way to chain together combinations.

[Spy Bee]

I've not done pads for ages. Just looking at that reminds me how knackering holding the pad is.

[Raymond Duck]

 

Zz.

[Spy Bee]

Zz.

Who rattled your cage?

[Raymond Duck]

Who rattled your cage?

haha. Tapatalk mate, not the first time.

[DanDanShaw]

Price had Thompson on the deck, badly hurt and was very close to stopping him.

 

Yeah but then he was stopped.

 

I've not done pads for ages. Just looking at that reminds me how knackering holding the pad is.

 

I've not boxed in a long time, and it's only when I watch videos that I realise why I stopped.  I'm a lazy sack of shit, who prefers 5-a-side to waking up early before work to go for a run haha!

 

Yeah the second fight was stupid in hindsight, but at the time they blamed it on the broken ear drum which caused him to lose his equilibrium and disregarded it. It wasn't a fight you could really analyse because it was over so quickly. I hope he does become a world champion of some description one day, i like him, but i really can't see it.

 

Callum Smith is the truth, Joe Gallagher is the truth as well and it's not going to be long until he's considered a top trainer in his own right, could end up being to the North West what Robert Garcia is to Oxnard. I love his pad work, he has this thing which is quite unique were his fighters catch a shot and throw a counter with the same hand all in one move, his pad work's great.

 

You can see at 1.02 of the video, i've seen the uppercuts before, the Mayweather's do the same thing but catching the right hook with the left hand then throwing the left hook, and the same with the right, it's simple stuff, but it's a great way to chain together combinations.

 

You've got to respect Joe the trainer, but as a person he's a right cunt (and that's personal opinion not one I've forged from interviews).  I've been good mates with Ant and Marcus for a while, but if you ever meet Joe he's just an arrogant prick.

 

There was a time when he was training all his fighters the same (he was, he won't admit it but he was) but since a few set backs and people finding him out, he's taken it to another level.  I think Ant or Callum will be his first legit world champion - and he deserves one.

[Kevin D]

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/11060770/anatomy-miguel-cotto-popularity

 

The trailer for "Guardians of the Galaxy," Marvel Comic's latest superhero movie, features a rapid-fire montage of graphic violence designed to lure you to the multiplex to see the latest adventure of a group of extraterrestrial misfits. Partway through the clip, I thought I spotted Miguel Cotto, flexing his muscles and scowling at the camera. The image flashed by so quickly I wasn't sure. But if it wasn't Cotto, who was it?

 

A replay revealed it was actually pro wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista in the role of Drax the Destroyer, a rampaging superhero caught up in an obsessive quest for vengeance. Still, it was an easy mistake to make.

 

An impassive demeanor is part of the brand that has made Cotto one of today's most popular and bankable boxers. There's nothing flashy or brash about him, no conspicuous displays of wealth, outrageous behavior or self-congratulatory rants. Just a quiet self-assurance he wears like a suit of armor.

Despite the size disparity, Drax and Cotto resemble each other more than you might think: Both have shaved heads, bulging muscles, lots of body art, and share an uber-macho attitude. And if that wasn't enough to spark my imagination, the trailer sponsored ESPN's video summation of Cotto's upset victory over Sergio Martinez, a case of a real-life destroyer upending the reigning middleweight champion of the world.

 

Although Cotto doesn't quite measure up to Drax's imaginary superhuman strength, stamina and resistance to physical injury, he seemed to have borrowed the fictional character's ability to project concussive blasts of cosmic energy from his hands. According to Martinez, he was dazed by the first left hook Cotto landed and never fully recovered.

 

The thing I noticed as soon as Cotto entered the ring for his maiden middleweight engagement was how much bigger he looked. His tattooed upper arms looked like metal-plated shoulder pads, and when the bell rang, he sprang to the attack on legs of coiled steel.

 

He looked an awful lot like the Cotto of old -- physically revitalized and infused with a single-minded purpose of a hitman. You could sense that Martinez was in trouble the moment the first punch was thrown.

 

[+] Enlarge

Chris Farina/Top Rank

A rejuvenated Miguel Cotto was merciless in pursuit of victory on Saturday, hammering away at Sergio Martinez from the opening round to win the lineal middleweight title.

It was almost over in the first round when Martinez was thrice sent flopping to the floor. Somehow, he survived the onslaught and fought on, trying to do the best he could on legs that resembled those of a newborn foal, knock-kneed one moment and splayfooted the next. It was a testament to the Argentinian's courage and determination that the fight lasted as long as it did. He must have known it was a hopeless cause, but took his lumps and soldiered on, too proud to capitulate.

 

Cotto, at 33, was merciless in pursuit of victory, hammering away at the champ, much to the delight of the heavily pro-Cotto crowd of 20,090 at Madison Square Garden. When Martinez, 39, crumpled again in the ninth round, trainer Pablo Sarmiento called it off before the start of the 10th. "Maravilla" wanted to keep fighting because that's what fighters do, but he was overruled by those paid to protect him, which is how it should be.

 

The moment referee Michael Griffin waved his arms in the air to signal that the fight was over, boxing had a new middleweight champion. Not an alphabet titleholder, mind you, but the lineal champion, the man who beat the man who beat the man. It was a remarkable late-career achievement, one most pundits were certain was beyond his grasp.

 

Cotto is the sort of guy who looks serious all the time, even when he's smiling. Seemingly impervious to the celebration that was taking place on the other side of the ropes, he remained stone-faced in the immediate aftermath of his greatest moment, a reserved man pleased with the good work he had done but not given to public displays of emotion.

 

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Even so, Cotto allowed that it was "the happiest day of my life" and that his knockout of Martinez was "the biggest achievement of my professional career," and you had to believe him. Irony is not his style.

 

An impassive demeanor is part of the brand that has made Cotto one of today's most popular and bankable boxers. There's nothing flashy or brash about him, no conspicuous displays of wealth, outrageous behavior or self-congratulatory rants. Just a quiet self-assurance he wears like a suit of armor.

 

Cotto is a throwback, an old-fashioned strong-but-silent type thriving in an era of anti-heroes. Win or lose, you know he's going to show up in shape and fight as hard as he can for as long as he can. There have been precious few boring rounds in Cotto's career, which is not something you could say about the majority of professional boxers.

 

It's simply not in his nature to coast or retreat into a shell, and very few customers come away from a Cotto fight feeling cheated. He's every inch a fighter and fans respond to his no-nonsense approach and aesthetically pleasing style, especially his crippling left hooks to the body. But there's more to it than that.

 

Cotto Makes History

Miguel Cotto talks to Bernardo Osuna after becoming the first Puerto Rican fighter to win a title in four weight classes.

 

Cotto is the badass big brother we all wish we had, an alpha male who takes his responsibility to the pack seriously. His imposing physical presence, gruff voice and deep-set eyes complete the archetypal image of brute as hero. He could easily have been the Hellenistic bronze Boxer of Quirinal (often referred to as the Pugilist at Rest), or a bareknuckle bruiser in Regency England, admired for his "bottom," and ability to dislodge a few "ivories" with a well-placed "plumper."

 

Instead, Cotto is a professional boxer living in the 21st century, a descendant of those earlier incarnations of the same breed of fighting man. And whether we realize it or not, that's part of what attracts us to him and his timeless persona. It's in our DNA.

 

The emphatic victory over Martinez came at a point when it looked like Cotto's time as an elite fighter was drawing to a close. His strong, albeit losing, effort against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2012 was encouraging. Then came the dreary one-sided decision loss to Austin Trout, in which Cotto was totally outboxed by an opponent who has not won a fight since.

 

A get-well knockout over Delvin Rodriguez last October excited his fan base, but beating up a game club fighter proved little and certainly didn't earn Cotto a crack at a title shot. It was his ability to fill Madison Square Garden that put him in the ring with Martinez on Saturday and gave him an opportunity to become the first Puerto Rican boxer to win the middleweight crown.

 

The backstory, of course, was that Martinez entered the fight following 14 months of inactivity that was necessitated by knee and shoulder surgery. He claimed he was completely healed and refused to use his impaired mobility as an excuse for his downfall. Nevertheless, it remains a nagging caveat to an otherwise splendid triumph.

 

[+] Enlarge

Chris Farina/Top Rank

Although we will never know the true impact of Martinez's injuries, one couldn't have asked Cotto to do anything more than beat the man in front of him.

We'll never know for sure whether Cotto could have beaten Martinez with two good legs, but maybe that's beside the point. In boxing, one man's bad luck is always the other's good fortune. That's just the way it goes. Moreover, you couldn't ask Cotto to do anymore than beat the man in front of him, which he did in an emphatic manner. And let's not forget that regardless of his medical history, Martinez went into the match as a consensus pound-for-pound entrant and betting favorite.

 

Cotto's career seemed all but over when Manny Pacquiao walked through his best punches and pounded him into submission in 2009. Drax the Destroyer, Miguel's interstellar alter ego, has also had his share of setbacks during a comic book career that dates to 1973. He suffered severe mental disability and an eventual decrease in power before making it big in the movies. Cotto, on the other hand, has persevered in a much tougher realm, one devoid of fantasy and as real as a punch in the nose.

 

But here we are, well over four years after his crushing loss to "PacMan," and Cotto has risen again -- proof positive that a fighter's worth goes beyond his won-loss record. Cotto's belief in himself and his fans' faith in him were rewarded with an upset victory over Martinez, a feat that will be difficult to top; but you just know Cotto is going to try. He wouldn't be Cotto if he didn't, and therein lays the secret of his success.

 

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/miguel-cotto-sergio-martinez-middleweight-championship-floyd-mayweather-jr-canelo-alvarez-madison-square-garden/

 

Between rounds during Saturday night’s middleweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden, between the three-minute intervals Miguel Cotto spent stalking and battering Sergio Martinez, my mind kept flashing back to scenes and memories of fragility. I saw my father and how he used to walk before his knee-replacement surgery — gripping his thigh to manually pick up and move his leg while muttering “sonuvabitch sonuvabitch sonuvabitch” through the bone-on-bone joint pain. I recalled a 39-year-old Michael Jordan, draining what should have been a triumphant, game-winning rainbow fadeaway over Shawn Marion in the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Only it didn’t work out that way: With a few seconds left, Jermaine O’Neal fouled Kobe Bryant; Bryant tied the game at the line; Jordan had a second attempt at a fall-away game winner, and Marion swatted it back toward half court; then MJ’s Eastern Conference squad lost in double overtime. And I thought back to some of the cockfights I’d witnessed while living in the Philippines in my early twenties: One bird, crippled by a blow, dragging itself across the cockpit’s dirt floor with one good wing and kicking frantically at the air to deter its opponent, who was moments away from crashing down with a fatal strike.

 

The moment from Martinez’s loss to Cotto that I suspect will join this melancholy gallery came late in Round 8. Martinez meant to explode off his back foot and attack Cotto coming forward with a one-two combination. But when Martinez made his move, his burst looked feeble, his right jab fell short, and when he went to plant his lead right foot while throwing the southpaw cross, his knee couldn’t support him. Martinez stumbled forward as if he’d fallen off a cliff. His left glove, which had been aimed at Cotto’s chin or cheek or temple, wound up landing on the ring mat, where it prevented Martinez from executing a full face-plant.

 

That slip occurred a little more than a round before Martinez’s corner decided to end the fight, and it served as the exclamation point on the story of the 39-year-old Argentine’s physical deterioration. That tale began almost two years ago, but its final chapter started in the first minute of Saturday’s bout, when Cotto landed a left hook high on Martinez’s head that wobbled him badly and exposed how shaky the champion’s legs were. Until that moment, Martinez and his handlers had managed to obfuscate and bluff about the condition of his right knee, which was first damaged when Martinez was knocked down in the 12th round of his September 2012 victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. The knee was operated on after that fight, then reinjured sometime before Martinez’s next bout, against Martin Murray in April 2013, and then operated on once more before the Cotto fight. The Martinez camp did a good enough job of convincing boxing fans and the media of the champion’s health that he entered the ring a slight favorite on Saturday, despite fighting Cotto in the Garden, which is basically his home arena, on the same day as New York’s annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. But all the oddsmakers and experts who favored Martinez did so on one condition — that his legs were good.

 

 

 

(GIF by Zombie Prophet)

 

After that first Cotto left hook, Martinez seemed to look to his lower body to provide the balance and stability he’d need to absorb and dodge punches all night. He found nothing. Although Martinez was clearly hurt by Cotto’s blow, the three knockdowns that followed in that first round appeared to be as much a product of Martinez trying to figure out how to stay upright than due to an accumulation of blows. At times, it looked like Martinez was sliding around on a floor covered with marbles while Cotto cut off the ring with crisp footwork that might not have seemed out of place in a dance studio.

 

I spent much of the rest of the fight fixated on Martinez’s right knee, trying to see how it would bend, when it would appear to lock, and in which directions it would allow him to move. After those early knockdowns, his situation looked dire. While trying to circle away from Cotto to buy time to regain his senses in that first round, Martinez almost literally dragged the right leg along with him. It didn’t want to bend or flex or support his weight, and I couldn’t help wondering if Martinez’s cranky joint might have been a factor in his decision to wear a pair of billowing white trunks that hung all the way down to his mid-calf. They looked like the kind of shorts only a genie could be comfortable in, or like Justin Bieber’s idea of a cool outfit to wear at Rucker Park. Then again, trying to bend reason or strategy into the fashion choices of Martinez, boxing’s no. 1 metrosexual leading man and a fighter lovingly referred to by fans and critics alike as “Zoolander,” might be a fool’s errand to begin with.

 

Things improved for Martinez, but only insomuch as he was able to stop heaving his leg around like an awkward piece of driftwood. For stretches of action in the middle rounds, Martinez was able to bounce on the balls of his feet and hop back and forth in a reasonable-looking but largely ineffective impersonation of his prime boxing form. Those periods, however, would last for only the first minute or so of a round, until dodging or absorbing a shot from Cotto would force Martinez to take an awkward step, to put his weight on the knee in an unpremeditated way, and it would derail the fighter anew. His steps to the side were short and choppy — a ginger little shuffle that seemed to ask, “Is it going to hurt if I move this way?” and then answer, “Yes, goddamnit!” At other points in the fight, Martinez would plant his lead foot in front of him and his knee looked like it would hinge in two separate motions. Down, then inward. Outward, then up. It was the kind of ugly, janky, painful motion that makes anyone who has ever sprained a knee or ankle want to look away.

 

And even when Martinez was moving more or less smoothly in the ring, without any apparent pain or hitch in his giddyup, he still wasn’t moving on the legs that made him the best middleweight in the world. The legs he used to take the lineal middleweight championship from Kelly Pavlik in 2010, bounding right to left and left to right, side-stepping Pavlik to strafe him with punches that left blood streaming from above both of Pavlik’s eyes. The legs that had the spring that gave Martinez the leverage and power to knock down Paul Williams in their first fight (a disputed-decision win for Williams), and then to knock him out cold in their rematch a year later. The legs with the burst and quickness he used to dance on the edge of Chavez Jr.’s punching range for 11 rounds, dashing in to bury jabs in the much larger man’s midsection and then darting out before his opponent could muster a counter. Or the constant movement Martinez used that kept the behemoth middleweight from setting his feet and letting his fists go, the changes of direction that made Chavez Jr. look as if he had been snake-charmed into not throwing punches.

 

 

 

The Martinez who fought Saturday had scarcely any of these moves left. He could try to bounce on the outskirts of Cotto’s jab, but when he went to spring forward in attack, his legs were too weak to close the distance and find his opponent, too weak to generate the power to hurt him. And when Martinez went to retreat on those legs, he didn’t have enough bounce to get out of Cotto’s range, so instead he ate left hooks and right crosses all night. Prime Martinez fought with his gloves by his waist because he knew his legs and his reflexes were enough to evade his opponents’ flurries. Saturday Martinez almost never dropped his hands. It was as if he, too, knew that the physical tools that made him such a devastating and beautiful fighter to watch had deserted him, and they weren’t coming back — probably ever.

 

It’s not Cotto’s fault that the Sergio Martinez he defeated Saturday evening to become middleweight champion was the real Martinez in name only. Cotto was sharp, aggressive, strong, and fighting in a style that seemed perfect for him in his second bout under trainer Freddie Roach. By winning, he’ll likely have his pick of glamour matchups with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Canelo Alvarez, or possibly even a rematch with Manny Pacquiao (unlikely, since Cotto and Pacquiao now share the same trainer). That next fight will likely tell us more about Cotto’s resurgence than his dismantling of a one-legged Martinez. The physical gifts that made Martinez a great fighter were long gone by the time of Saturday’s fight, with little remaining but heart and determination, which kept Martinez on his feet in Rounds 2 through 9 (barring a slip in the middle rounds and a near-knockdown that was incorrectly ruled a knockdown in the ninth). That same heart led Martinez to beg for one more round to defend his title after the ninth, and it also led to Pablo Sarmiento’s response, which I imagine will remain the most moving exchange between trainer and fighter that boxing will produce this year.

 

“Champion, your knees are not responding,” Sarmiento told Martinez before the 10th round. “Sergio, look at me … I’m gonna stop this one. Sergio, you are the best for me. You’ll always be the best champion, Sergio.”