Sergio Martinez def. Martin Murray by unanimous decision (115-112 x 3)
Prior to Sergio Martinez vs. Martin Murray, I asked if Martinez was primed for an upset tonight. The answer was an emphatic yes – he was indeed very close to the upset. But in the end, Sergio Martinez did what Sergio Martinez does – he found himself in trouble, and won it late.
Though he was facing a hand-picked opponent, chosen to highlight him in front of a hometown crowd, Martinez had a lot of trouble against Murray. In the early rounds, Martinez had more success as Murray was focused entirely on defense with no offense. In the middle of the fight, Murray came out of his shell with increasing success, leading to a knockdown in round 8. Martinez again hit the canvas in round 10, but it was ruled a slip. Heading into the final rounds, this seemed like anyone’s fight. And that’s when Sergio Martinez turned it on, as he so often does. It wasn’t the dramatic late stoppage we’ve seen from him in the past, but it was an impressive showing in the final rounds with Martinez ending strong and taking the fight in dramatic fashion.
More Martinez vs. Murray coverage:
Bloody Elbow | Bad Left Hook
Walking away from the fight, you have to leave impressed by Murray and questioning Martinez’s future. His hands down style really cost him here, and though Murray couldn’t ultimately capitalize, this was not a showing that makes me confident that Martinez is still at his best.
Outside of the fight, the night was quite a spectacle, as expected. It took place in the midst of a massive rain storm, but that didn’t stop the rabid Argentine fans from making their presence felt in a highly charged atmosphere.
Here are gif highlights from Sergio Martinez vs. Martin Murray, thanks to Bloody Elbow’s Zombie Prophet.
First up, here’s the round 8 knockdown, courtesy of a straight right from Murray:
Here’s the round 10 “slip.” While it ultimately didn’t impact the fight scoring due to the final 3 point differences on all the cards, I think this is a bad call. That’s a knockdown. Interestingly, the commission used instant replay and upheld the decision:
The scores read:
Finally, here’s Sergio Martinez entering through the rabid crowd. No gif can do justice to what was an amazing moment: