Martinez to debut Saturday night ahead of June 7 showdown

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Robert Morales

HBO’s 24/7: Cotto/Martinez featuring an inside look at Miguel Cotto and Sergio Martinez ahead of their June 7 middleweight title fight at Madison Square Garden in New York City, will debut Saturday night on HBO. The second of two episodes is on tap for June 5 – a week from Thursday – and two days before the fight that will be available on HBO pay-per-view.

Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KOs), of Argentina, will be attempting to make the second successful defense of the title he took from Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in September 2012. Cotto (38-4, 31 KOs), of Puerto Rico, will try to become the first fighter from the island to win world titles in four weight classes.

Miguel Cotto, Sergio Martinez in Los Angeles to formally announce June title fight

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Robert Morales

Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico and Sergio Martinez of Argentina on Wednesday will play host to a Los Angeles-area news conference to formally announce their middleweight title fight slated for June 7 at Madison Square Garden in New York City (on HBO pay-per-view).

Cotto (38-4, 31 KOs), who is 33, has won titles in the junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight divisions. If he takes Martinez’s middleweight belt, Cotto becomes the first Puerto Rican to win titles in four weight classes.

Martinez, 39, is 51.2-2 with 28 knockouts.

Report: Miguel Cotto turns down $10 million to fight ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, eyes Sergio Martinez

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Robert Morales

Former three-division world champion Miguel Cotto has turned down an offer of over $10 million to fight former junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a fight that would have taken place in March, according to a report on ESPN.com.

Cotto apparently did so because he wants to instead pursue a fight with middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. According to the story, Cotto wants to fight June 7 in New York City on the weekend of the Puerto Rican Day parade, and he wants to fight for the middleweight title. Those two things out-weigh the notion that he will not get as much money to fight Martinez. If Cotto and Alvarez were to fight, it would have to be in March and no title would be up for grabs.

Golden Boy Promotions would have been lead promoter in the case of a Cotto and Alvarez fight as Golden Boy promotes Alvarez; it would have been televised on Showtime pay-per-view. If Cotto and Martinez is made, Top Rank will act as Cotto’s promoter, the story said, and the fight would be on HBO pay-per-view.

Lou DiBella, who promotes Martinez, said that while there have been talks for a fight with Cotto, the fight is not a done deal. DiBella also said Martinez wants the fight.

At question would be the weight. The fight presumably would be for Martinez’s 160-pound middleweight belt. The story suggests Cotto will be asking Martinez to meet him somewhere between junior middleweight (154) and middleweight.

Cotto has won titles at junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s fine for testing positive for marijuana reduced by a lot

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Robert Morales

When Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. tested positive for marijuana in his post-fight drug test following his middleweight title-fight loss to Sergio Martinez last September, there was outcry when the Nevada State Athletic Commission fined him a whopping $900,000, to go along with suspending him nine months.

Marijuana is not going to help a fighter in the ring like steroids, many bellowed. And the fine was nearly a third of his $3 million purse. On Friday, the commission reduced the fine to $100,000.

An Associated Press story said Chavez’s lawyers argued that the large fine violated Chavez’s constitutional rights. ESPN.com reported that Chavez’s lawyers had been preparing a lawsuit against the commission because of the fine.

Chavez was looked upon as a repeat offender by the commission because he tested positive for diuretics in 2009.

Gennady Golovkin retains middleweight title with third-round KO of Macklin

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Robert Morales

Gennady Golovkin not only retained his middleweight title, he might have moved a step closer to a fight with the fellow champion Sergio Martinez, thanks to a spectacular third-round knockout of Matthew Macklin on Saturday in Mashantucket, Conn.

Golovkin decked Macklin (29-5) with a left hook to the body midway through the third. Macklin seemed to let out a scream as he went down, grimacing in pain. He did not come close to getting up and beating the count, and was counted out at 1:22.

With a record of 27-0 with 24 knockouts, Golovkin now has a knockout ratio of 88.8 percent. He is trained by West Covina native Abel Sanchez out of his sprawling gym in Big Bear.

Macklin, of England, said during a post-fight interview on HBO that Golovkin is definitely the best fighter he’s ever faced, and Macklin in March 2012 went 11 rounds with Martinez – even decking Martinez – before Martinez stopped him after the 11th.

Golovkin, 31, is from Kazakhstan. He cut Macklin in the second round over the left eye.

Sergio Martinez banged up in win

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Robert Morales

Sergio Martinez, one of the middleweight world champions, likely won’t fight for the rest of this year because of injuries sustained in his title defense against Martin Murray this past Saturday, his promoter told ESPN.com.

Martinez retained his belt with a unanimous decision over Murray, of England, in Martinez’s native Argentina. Promoter Lou DiBella said Martinez came out of it with an injured right knee, a broken left hand and a cut over his left eye.

“He’s probably out for the rest of the year,” DiBella told ESPN.com. “I just can’t see him returning this year. He probably needs another surgery to remove scar tissue from the knee and he needs more time to rehab it than he gave it after the Chavez fight.”

Martinez suffered an injury to the same knee in his victory over then-middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in September 2012 in Las Vegas.

Sergio Martinez finds Martin Murry no joke

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Robert Morales

From a variety of reports, it sounds like middleweight champion Sergio Matinez had all he could handle in England’s Martin Murray in their title fight Saturday in Martinez’s native Argentina.

Martinez won by three scores of 115-112, but he was knocked down in the eighth round. According to an Associated Press story on the fight, knockdowns of Martinez could have been counted in the 10th and 11th rounds, but were ruled slips by referee Massimo Barrovechio.

Martinez, 38, is 51-2-2. Murray, 30, is 25-1-1.

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