Tag: Sergio Martinez comeback

Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez aims for shot at another world title

Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez is aiming for a shot at another world title.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published at DAZN.com.

Nearing his 47th birthday, former Argentine champion Sergio Martinez is planning a final world title shot before saying goodbye to the sport finally.

“Maravilla” left the sport in 2014 after losing to Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto, but in 2020 he decided to take a second chance to prove himself, and since that time he has three wins, two of them by knockout.

“I have assumed that I’m like a dinosaur. I’ve been one for many years. Since I was champion I was a dinosaur. But the stage I’m in now is really nice because it’s like the last breath that boxing gives me,” he said in an exclusive interview with DAZN News.

However, in what he calls “the last cartridge,” the goal is clear: He wants to go for a world title.

“When they tell me no, that’s when I get more motivated,” he said. “They told me that there was only one [George] Foreman, when Foreman was world champion at the age of 40 or Roberto Duran. We are talking about super-historic fighters who I admire a lot. Real extraterrestrials. And I want to test myself to see if I could become part of that little group.”

Martinez returns this Thursday against Englishman Macaulay McGowan over 10 rounds in Spain (no TV in the U.S.) and intends to make this fight the first of four steps to a title shot.

“There are things I can’t negotiate with anymore,” he said. “I have to go all out and go for the knockout and the best way to test myself is just that. If my intention is to be world champion, McGowan can’t be a dangerous opponent for me, he shouldn’t, in theory.

“I say that with all due respect. If I’m aiming for a championship, McGowan, I have to go and break him in half, because I have to and my other opponents as well. But if my intention is to be champion again it’s part of the job and the process.

“I know the dangers and the commitment it takes. I’ve been in boxing for a lifetime and I know I’m doing it as close to perfect as I can, although I don’t think it exists at all, but I’m doing it so well in the daily work.”

Martinez said that his plan after McGowan includes dates in May or June, then in September and again in December or January before looking at either Gennady Golovkin, Jermall Charlo or Demetrius Andrade, all of whom hold major titles.

Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez aims for shot at another world title

Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez is aiming for a shot at another world title.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published at DAZN.com.

Nearing his 47th birthday, former Argentine champion Sergio Martinez is planning a final world title shot before saying goodbye to the sport finally.

“Maravilla” left the sport in 2014 after losing to Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto, but in 2020 he decided to take a second chance to prove himself, and since that time he has three wins, two of them by knockout.

“I have assumed that I’m like a dinosaur. I’ve been one for many years. Since I was champion I was a dinosaur. But the stage I’m in now is really nice because it’s like the last breath that boxing gives me,” he said in an exclusive interview with DAZN News.

However, in what he calls “the last cartridge,” the goal is clear: He wants to go for a world title.

“When they tell me no, that’s when I get more motivated,” he said. “They told me that there was only one [George] Foreman, when Foreman was world champion at the age of 40 or Roberto Duran. We are talking about super-historic fighters who I admire a lot. Real extraterrestrials. And I want to test myself to see if I could become part of that little group.”

Martinez returns this Thursday against Englishman Macaulay McGowan over 10 rounds in Spain (no TV in the U.S.) and intends to make this fight the first of four steps to a title shot.

“There are things I can’t negotiate with anymore,” he said. “I have to go all out and go for the knockout and the best way to test myself is just that. If my intention is to be world champion, McGowan can’t be a dangerous opponent for me, he shouldn’t, in theory.

“I say that with all due respect. If I’m aiming for a championship, McGowan, I have to go and break him in half, because I have to and my other opponents as well. But if my intention is to be champion again it’s part of the job and the process.

“I know the dangers and the commitment it takes. I’ve been in boxing for a lifetime and I know I’m doing it as close to perfect as I can, although I don’t think it exists at all, but I’m doing it so well in the daily work.”

Martinez said that his plan after McGowan includes dates in May or June, then in September and again in December or January before looking at either Gennady Golovkin, Jermall Charlo or Demetrius Andrade, all of whom hold major titles.

Sergio Martinez records knockout in return to ring

Sergio Martinez, the 45-year-old former titleholder who hadn’t fought in six years, stopped Jose Miguel Fandino on Friday in Spain.

Older fighter, same result.

Sergio Martinez, the 45-year-old former titleholder who hadn’t fought in six years, stopped Jose Miguel Fandino in seven rounds in a super middleweight fight Friday in Torrelavega, Spain.

Martinez (52-3-2, 29 KOs) put the 36-year-old Fandino (15-7, 8 KOs) down twice with body shots, once in the sixth and once in the final round. A Fandino cornerman threw in the towel during the referee’s.

Spectators at Estadio El Malecon reportedly were limited to about 1,000 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Martinez fought with both knees wrapped and moved well, if a bit more slowly than he once had. An injury to the Argentine’s right knee plagued him in his previous few fights.

He injured it in the final round of his unanimous-decision victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in defense of his middleweight title in September 2012 and was never the same.

Martinez, once on pound-for-pound lists, eked past Martin Murray by decision the following April but, essentially fighting on one leg, he was stopped by Miguel Cotto in 10 rounds to lose his belt in June 2014.

He didn’t fight again until Friday.

 

 

Sergio Martinez records knockout in return to ring

Sergio Martinez, the 45-year-old former titleholder who hadn’t fought in six years, stopped Jose Miguel Fandino on Friday in Spain.

Older fighter, same result.

Sergio Martinez, the 45-year-old former titleholder who hadn’t fought in six years, stopped Jose Miguel Fandino in seven rounds in a super middleweight fight Friday in Torrelavega, Spain.

Martinez (52-3-2, 29 KOs) put the 36-year-old Fandino (15-7, 8 KOs) down twice with body shots, once in the sixth and once in the final round. A Fandino cornerman threw in the towel during the referee’s.

Spectators at Estadio El Malecon reportedly were limited to about 1,000 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Martinez fought with both knees wrapped and moved well, if a bit more slowly than he once had. An injury to the Argentine’s right knee plagued him in his previous few fights.

He injured it in the final round of his unanimous-decision victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in defense of his middleweight title in September 2012 and was never the same.

Martinez, once on pound-for-pound lists, eked past Martin Murray by decision the following April but, essentially fighting on one leg, he was stopped by Miguel Cotto in 10 rounds to lose his belt in June 2014.

He didn’t fight again until Friday.

 

 

Sergio Martinez scheduled to face Jose Miguel Fandino on Aug. 21

Sergio Martinez told a Spanish TV station that he will face Jose Miguel Fandino in a 10-round middleweight bout on Aug. 21 in Spain.

Sergio Martinez’s return to boxing appears to be set.

Martinez told a Spanish TV station that he will face Jose Miguel Fandino in a 10-round middleweight bout on Aug. 21 in Torrelavega, a town in northern Spain. The original date was Aug. 22.

Martinez, 45, is a native of Argentina who has lived in Spain for a number of years. He hasn’t fought since June 2014, when he fought Miguel Cotto with a nagging knee injury and was stopped in 10 rounds.

Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) announced in February that he had been training in Spain, felt good and intended to return to the ring in June. However, those plans were scrapped after the coronavirus took hold.

Fandino (15-6, 8 KOs) last fought in November, when he stopped fellow Spaniard Sergio Fernandez in two rounds. He’s 35.

Sergio Martinez, 45 but feeling good, still planning to fight again

Sergio Martinez, 45 but feeling good, said he still intends to make a comeback after six years away from the sport.

Sergio Martinez, 45, is still determined to make a comeback after six years away from the sport.

Martinez announced in February that he was training in his native Spain and planned to fight again. He even had a date and site, June 6 in Madrid. However, that went by the wayside in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I need it, I want to do this comeback,” the former two-division champ told The Ring. “I want to check my feelings in the ring and feel the punches again. Then we will see [what I can do].”

Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) had hoped to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a rematch but, after Chavez went a different direction, he’s now targeting countryman Kerman Lejarraga (30-2, 24 KOs), according to BoxingScene.com. He hopes to fight late this year or early next year.

“I think it would be a good fight,” Martinez said. “He is a good boxer, he looks very strong. It is a fight that would make me excited. It would be a duel of very different styles. I would like it very much, it excites me.

“Kerman is very strong and he has also been active. I have not fought for six years. I think that maybe I should have had a fight before to have contact with the mat, the ropes, the ring … because it is different from the one you train in.

“As much as I am doing well in training, I think the most logical thing would be to do a fight. With Kerman it will be between December and January. I will be almost 46 years old, I am aware of that.

“… It doesn’t seem crazy. Where it happens, in Madrid or Bilbao, there may be an audience. In Spain there may be a lot of people. I’ll keep training and at any time there will be news [about the pandemic subsiding] and then we will know [when the fight will take place].”

Martinez last fought on June 7, 2014, when he was stopped in 10 rounds by Miguel Cotto. The Spanaird’s knee was so damaged from his first fight with Chavez that he was essentially a one-legged boxer against Cotto.

Time has allowed his body to heal.

“Boxing is my life,” Martinez told The Ring. “Everything was wrong in my last fight against Cotto: training camp, the injuries, my knee. Now, I am feeling really good and my knees are better. All these years of rest were very good for my knees and elbows.”

He went: “I was training to do the rematch against Chavez, but he let me down at the last minute. Since then, I’ve been training for a fight. None of the big names want to face me, and this is why I will make a comeback in a small show in Spain. We don’t have too much of a budget but, for sure, the opponent will be a tough one.”