Sergio Martinez dominated Matthew Macklin in an action-packed bout and stopped him after 11 rounds Saturday at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, NY before a sell-out crowd of 4,671.
Macklin (28-4, 19 KOs), a British fighter of Irish descent, put on a spirited fight before his Irish fans on St. Patrick’s Day in his adopted hometown of New York, but couldn’t close the show as fatigue and Martinez’s mettle proved to be too much down the stretch. Macklin did score a knockdown in round seven after Macklin connected with an overhand right.
Although no major belts were at stake because of sanctioning issues, Martinez kept his reputation as the top middleweight in the world with a late surge. At age of 37 the Argentinean dropping Macklin twice with blistering combinations. Macklin beat the count both times, but his trainer Buddy McGirt asked referee Eddie Cotton to stop it before the 12th round began.
Given that Martinez is left-handed, losing the use of his dominant hand would qualify as a decent explanation for a lackluster performance. Macklin was ahead on one scorecard until Martinez closed him out. The scores at the time of the stoppage were 103-103, 105-101 and 105-101, the two latter scores favoring Martinez.
“It was the right thing to stop the fight,” Martinez said. “He will now have a tomorrow. He would not have had a tomorrow if they continued the fight.”
“It was difficult, it was a complicated fight,” continue Martinez. “He’s a tough rival. He didn’t come out and attack like I expected and he wasn’t open on defense. It’s a 12-round fight and I won.
“I knew it was a matter of time, it’s just like cutting a tree, little by little, but I knew by the final bell he was gonna fall.”
I agree, the legs did tangle but it was counted as a knockout because the glove did touch the canvas. Just glad Martinez knocked Macklin out.
…”Macklin did score a knockdown in round seven after Macklin connected with an overhand right”…. WHAAAAAT????…
A very bias way to see that lady´s punch!.. Macklin used his knee as a “wrestler” and
was VERY CLEAR on the replay.
Martinez was a teacher that nite… easy on the first rounds and “BIG DADDY” at the end!!.
m.t.a.
Martinez is a true champion, despite the hate by the HBO announce team. I can’t believe how bad they were trying to discredit Martinez the entire fight. (Merchant especially) A truly great fighter is supposed to find a way to figure out their opponent despite difficulty early in the fight and Martinez did just that.
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