Martinez-Salido battle to controversial draw

By Boxing News - 09/13/2015 - Comments

In the second of two world title fights on the pay-per-view undercard, Roman “Rocky” Martinez (29-2-3, 17 KOs) retained his WBO Junior Lightweight title with a thrilling 12-round majority draw in a rematch against four-time world champion Orlando “Siri” Salido (42-13-3, 29 KOs).

Picking up where they left off when they fought in a Fight of the Year candidate last April, won by Martinez, both fighters exchanged punches for 36 minutes of ferocious action. Each went down in the third round. At the end of a slugfest, in which more than 1,700 punches were thrown, one judge scored it for Martinez (115-113), one had Salido (115-113) in front and the other called it even (114-114).

Both Martinez and Salido thought they should have got the decision and are in favor of a third fight.

“I definitely won the fight,” said Martinez, who was making the first defense in his third stint as WBO Junior Lightweight World Champion. “They counted a knockdown that wasn’t really a knockdown.

“He threw a lot of punches but most of them didn’t connect, they landed on my arms. Anywhere you want that third fight between us, I will take it.”

Said Salido, a two-time featherweight world champion who was the aggressor throughout and delivered more than 1,000 punches, “I did all the work and I thought I won the fight. I thought the first couple of rounds were even but then I took control of the fight afterwards.

“I was definitely looking for the championship. As you all saw I threw more of the punches and I thought I won the fight.

“I dedicated so much for this fight, for them to take it away from me is not fair. Definitely, I am ready for a third fight.”

MAYWEATHER vs. BERTO PLUS MARTINEZ vs. SALIDO II TO PREMIERE ON SHOWTIME® NEXT SATURDAY, SEPT. 19

Saturday’s welterweight world championship between Floyd Mayweather and Andre Berto will premiere on SHOWTIME® next Saturday, Sept. 19. The delayed telecast of Mayweather vs. Berto will include the junior lightweight world championship bout between Roman Martinez and Orlando Salido II and will be immediately followed by the premiere of ALL ACCESS: Mayweather vs. Berto Epilogue. The Sports Emmy Award-Winning “Epilogue” shines the spotlight on fight week and takes viewers inside the ropes and into the mind of a prizefighter like no other show on television.

Nielsen and Markussen score KO victories to set up Danish mega-fight

Patrick Nielsen and Rudy Markussen both scored KO victories tonight at the Arena Nord in Frederikshavn to set up a Danish mega-fight later this year.

The event was billed as ‘Collision Course’ with both men needing a victory to secure a blockbuster showdown, and the bitter rivals delivered with impressive performances against tough international opposition.

Nielsen, the current WBA International Super Middleweight Champion, was first to fight, sending a clear message to Markussen with a convincing knockout victory over Samir Santos Barbosa.

Nielsen took control of the fight from the opening round, working well behind his southpaw jab and proving too much for his outclassed opponent. A straight left sent Barbosa to the canvas in the second round, but the Brazilian was able to beat the count. In the fourth-round, Nielsen executed a perfect left hook to the liver, to ensure victory and a highly anticipated clash with his former teammate Markussen.

‘’I was pleased with my performance,’’ said Nielsen, who recorded his first KO victory since moving up to 168lbs earlier this year. ‘’It feels great to have got the stoppage. This is the first of many for me at super middleweight. From now on I’m only going to get better and better.

‘’I stuck to my game plan. I used my jab and looked for openings to unload my power punches. I thought I had him in the second but he beat the count and kept coming forward. But I found the opening in the fourth and hit him with a sweet shot to the liver. I knew there was no coming back from that.

‘’Now, I’m ready for the big fights. To me Rudy is just a stepping-stone on my way to challenge for World titles. He may have won tonight, but against me, he will taste defeat again and wish he never come out of retirement.’’

Markussen, who returned from a close to three-year absence from the ring, wasted little time in disposing of his Georgian opponent Ramazi Gogichashvili. Nicknamed the ‘Hard Hitter’, Markussen lived up to his alias by stopping Gogichashvili inside one round.

‘’It felt great to be back in the ring,’’ said Markussen. ‘’It took a lot of training and discipline to get in shape, and tonight, it paid off. I ruled the arena! Gogichashvili is not a bad fighter, and when he hit me, he hit me hard. The pressure was on but I delivered. He hit hard, but I hit harder. I’m still the ‘Hard Hitter’ and everyone knows it’s a big risk for Patrick to fight me.’’



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