By Sean McDaniel: While watching interim WBC light middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs) get royally shafted last week against Kermit Cintron, I couldn’t help but notice that Martinez’s fighting style was remarkably similar to former super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe, and maybe a little better than Joe in many ways. Martinez looked sensational for most of the fight, moving standing in front of Cintron with his hands down, pot shotting him with fast punches, while avoiding most of Cintron’s huge power shots.
Through no fault of his own, Martinez was robbed by two of the judges who scored the fight 113-113, turning it into a majority draw. Martinez scored a knockdown in the 7th, landing a nice left hand that put Cintron down. The referee Frank Santore then counted Cintron out, counting to 10 and waiving the fight off. Cintron argued his case and somehow got Santore to buy into and letting the fight continue.
If that wasn’t enough, Martinez lost a point in the 12th after landing a punch that hit Cintron just as he was ducking his head. The referee, without having given any other warnings about that type of punch, then took a point away from Martinez. The rest is history. Martinez ended up having to settle for a draw instead of what should have easily have been a win for him.
Getting worked over by the judges and referee were bad, you must admit, but the boxing fans at home and at ringside know who really won the fight, so this bout isn’t quite as bad as it might otherwise be. Martinez loses nothing from the fight, remaining the interim WBC light middleweight champion, and can go home feeling proud for putting on a fine performance.
Martinez was a class act through all the turmoil of the 7th and 12th, not going to pieces like some fighters might have done and staying self contained. While Cintron bellyached to the referee, complaining that the knockdown was caused by a head butt and not a punch, Martinez stayed above the fray, not demeaning himself by going into hysterics about how he was getting robbed of his knockout victory.
Martinez looked as if he had been studying Calzaghe’s style well since his last fight, because he fought almost totally like him. Martinez uses slapping flurries, straight left hands to score points and leaned away from many of Cintron’s big shots the same way that Calzaghe often does when attacked by an opponent. Indeed, Martinez seemed to have Calzaghe’s style down better than Calzaghe himself, showing much better fluidity, athleticism than the Welsh fighter, and also showing a much better chin than Joe.
Most of Cintron’s big shots that he attempted missed as Martinez would duck away, but a few got threw and landed to the head. Martinez took these big shots, punches that would have probably dropped Calzaghe if he had taken them, without getting hurt or being knocked down.
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