By Gav Duthie: ‘Maravilla’ translates in the English tongue to marvel or wonder. Sergio Martinez career and life achievements possibly live up to his alias more than any boxer before him. He was a man so determined to achieve his goals he defied the laws of age and the cries of a crumbling body for years to succeed.
Martinez also had to box against the establishment, (the promoters, sanctioning bodies and TV networks) to succeed in the dog eat dog world of boxing. Finally at age 40 his body has said enough is enough and he has had to retire. We look at the boxing life of Sergio ‘The wonder’ Martinez.
A crumbling body
Sergio’s battle with his knee has been well documented. He suffered cruciate injuries which severely debilitates movement. For a fighter with Martinez reflex dependency and footwork this is a career ending situation. How he battled with this for so long is a testament to his skill and determination. His injuries do not stop there, however. He faced Darren Barker with a fractured and dislocated elbow just prior to the fight which could have recurred at any moment during the bout. He spent hours during his training in oxygen chambers for chronic back pain for years. Couple this with the age factor he should never have been a world champion. Boxers who base their style solely on reflexes and speed are lucky to box at a high level past early thirties. It took Martinez until two months past his 35th birthday to receive his first title shot. What he achieved between the age of 35-38 is marvelous but how did it all begin?
$900
Unlike knockout artists like Marcos Maidana and Lucas Matthyse, Maravilla’s counter punching style was not as celebrated back home in Argentina. He was awkward and hard to promote. Despite this he raced to a 16-0-1 (5) record before getting the opportunity to fight in Las Vegas for no more than $900. He was already earning next to nothing in Argentina so a win in America could really start his career despite the low purse. His opponent Antonio Margarito (20-3) wasn’t seen as a huge threat with his 3 losses at domestic level. Maravilla wasn’t ready for the tough Mexican and was battered and stopped in the 7th round. Maravilla went back to Argentina with his tail between his legs.
Argentina Problems
Martinez built himself back up with 8 wins in Argentina winning South American titles and gaining experience. In December 2001 however riots broke out in Argentina due to a poor economy and massive civil unrest. Martinez was on occasion earning zero money for fights and reflected running to and from fights because he couldn’t afford a taxi and sometimes finding it difficult to eat. Against the wishes of his family he decided to leave home and traveled to Spain.
An opportunity
In Spain he was officially an illegal immigrant but found solace in a boxing gym managed by Argentine compatriots. Maravilla worked mopping floors for low cash wages and boxed sporadically. He was only earning a couple of hundred dollars per fight but he was keeping busy. After 5 straight wins in Spain he was offered the chance to fight in Manchester against IBO Light Middleweight champion Richard Williams (17-1-1) on June 21 2003 in Manchester. Martinez now (29-1-1) was seen as a stepping stone for Williams and he knocked the Argentine down in round 3. Unable to finish the job Maravilla grew into the fight returning the knockdown to Williams and won by decision.
WBC Eliminator
He had another 2 fights in the UK and 7 in Spain (winning the WBC Latino title) before America finally came calling again when he was (38-1-1) with an eliminator bout against Saul Roman (27-2) which he won in 4 rounds. It took another 4 victories, however, to get a shot at the WBC ‘Interim’ title when he beat Alex Bunema.
2009
In ’09 it seemed like the journey might end for Sergio. He was now boxing the big names but despite two top performances that year he didn’t register a victory. Maravilla was the victim of two controversial decisions giving him a draw against the powerful Kermit Cintron and a Majority decision loss against Paul Williams.
Boxer of the year
Maravilla turned this around in 2010 as champion Kelly Pavlik honourably gave him a title shot in April 2 months after Sergio’s 35th birthday. He dominated the fight over 12 rounds with Pavlik to become the WBC and WBO middleweight champion. Despite not being a huge puncher Martinez wasn’t letting his November 2010 rematch with Paul Williams end with the judges when he delivered one of the sweetest left hands in boxing history to knock Williams out in round 2.
Battling the establishment
After this amazing breakthrough he could expect the riches to follow but Maravilla was soon one of the victims of one of the most controversial bureaucratic farces in modern times. Sergio’s mandatory challenger for the WBC was now Sebastian Zbik (30-0), no problem, Zbik was a largely protected fighter and nowhere near Martinez skill. But HBO decided that they would not cover a fight with Zbik because of his lack of appeal in America. They said they would only buy a fight with Serhiy Dzinziruk (37-0) who was ranked quite high with the WBC so Martinez agreed and knocked him out in round 8 in March 2011. The WBC stripped Martinez of the title however and relegated the Dzinziruk bout to WBC Diamond level. This move seemed specifically designed to maneuver HBO and WBC Golden Boy Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr (42-0-1) into an easy title shot. In only June 2011 Chavez defeated Sebastian Zbik by unanimous decision to become the WBC Middleweight champion.
The battle for his belt
Martinez promoter Lou Di Bella fought vigorously to get a shot for Martinez but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. Chavez promoted by Bob Arum was allowed to defend his title against Peter Manfredo Jnr, Marco Antonio Rubio and Andy Lee without facing Maravilla. Di Bella appealed to the WBC at their annual conference with the late president Jose Sulaiman putting it to a committee decision whether or not Martinez should get a shot. In the mean time Sergio was getting older and suffering a lot of injuries chiefly his knee and elbow. He defended his Diamond belt against Brit pair Darren Barker and Matthew Macklin winning both in round 11. The WBC finally agreed to the match scheduled for September 2012 a full 18 months after Sergio lost the title. The opposition obviously hoped at now 38 and injury prone Maravilla was there for the taking.
Destiny
Martinez rolled back the years to box and move around Chavez with ease until disaster seemingly struck in round 12. The commentator proclaimed shades of Chavez Snr and Meldrick Taylor where Taylor was knocked out whilst ahead on the cards with 2 seconds of the final round remaining. There was to be no repeat however as Martinez got up and stood toe-to-toe with Chavez until the final bell where Maravilla won a split decision.
Age finally catches up
Since September 2012 Martinez has managed only 2 fights in almost 3 years due largely to his knee injuries. He got up from a knockdown against British fighter Murray to win a close decision but was destroyed by Cotto in ten rounds over a year later in May 2014. Over the past year Martinez has expressed his desire to carry on but his age and crumbling body have finally said ‘No mas’. It will be a sad time for Maravilla and his fans but he should be proud of everything he has achieved over his career and I certainly see him as a legend of the ring.
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