Comments Thread For: Roach: Martinez is a Soccer Player, a Secondary Fighter!

[Deeznuts]

****** statement no need to comment on this

[LADIV]

if Roach really believes that and doesn't realize what kind of boxer Martinez is than his training is really going to hurt Cotto

this is the best article I've read breaking down what Martinez does in the ring



Martinez is an atypical counterpuncher with a mission statement: Provoke blows to provoke mistakes. "When we want to throw," he says, "that's when we are most exposed." When he leads with a single punch it is no different from when he flinches, feints with his feet, or drops his hands and leans forward. He'll slide in, jerk a shoulder and slide out to draw you out so he can counter (what you think is) your counter attack.

This bluff and blast strategy is general. He insists that "it can be done with all."

He was born three years after the death of the once-famous trainer Jack Hurley and his timing only serves to confuse the truth once again. The truth is Martinez is a Hurley fighter. "You can tell a Hurley fighter from the others as easily as an art expert can tell a Rembrandt from something by Harry Grunt," wrote W.C. Heinz in 1967, they "come out with that shuffle step, the hands low and in punching position, and they just invite you to lead so that can move off it, step in and knock your block off with the counter."

"The average counterpuncher is a guy who don't do a damn thing," Hurley said. "If you throw a punch he ducks it and he hits you quick." Hurley raised the counterpunching game from checkers to chess. Martinez adds his own nuances. Half the time he knows what shot will be thrown because it is precisely what he invited in the first place. The end result is that the shot misses by an inch and he lands a simultaneous counter, reducing his reaction-time to nearly zero. What commentators are hailing as incredible speed has as much to do with planning and timing. What looks like natural power is really a product of a collision between his fist and the incoming face ***8212;what Hurley identified as "the difference between a push punch and a shock punch."

And he has a secret that no one has figured out yet: He kills jabs. The jab is the evolutionary leap that separates boxers from flailing brutes and enables the former to routinely dominate the latter ***8212;literally single-handedly. Martinez invites the jab and then sneaks over a looping right with it. He uses two counters besides. In the second round against Matthew Macklin, he timed Macklin's jab, slipped outside of it, and countered with a straight left that sent him flying into the ropes. Later, Martinez slid to his left off of Macklin's jab and countered it with a left uppercut. He does this so well no one's sure he's doing it, least of all the one it's being done to. He does it again and again, against everybody, and yet they keep right on jabbing, faithfully, to the end.

Martinez's offense is not bait for his counters every time. He's liable to attack the moment he senses an opponent getting set to punch or when the opponent is not expecting it. This is not only disruptive it is disheartening. Like Manny Pacquiao, Joe Calzaghe, and other discordant rhythm fighters, Martinez understands the human tendency to follow predictable patterns (move, set, punch 1, 2 ***8212;repeat.) and he anticipates and exploits that predictability. His is a jazz style with riffs as disorienting to his opponents as Miles Davis was to Percy Faith.

The Maravilla strategy becomes clear. His is the comprehensive counterattack of an athlete. He doesn't simply "duck and counter," he's constantly provoking offense to his advantage and using mobility and discordant rhythm to confuse.

good article

[LADIV]

RING and WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez is the subject of a documentary entitled Maravilla that covers much of his career, starting from his days as an amateur through his victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., according to his advisors, Nathan and Sampson Lewkowicz.

Directed by Juan Pablo Cadaveira, Maravilla will be screened four times next month among the 22 films in The Tribeca Film Festival's Viewpoints Section on April 19, 21, 23 and 26, according to Nathan Lewkowicz.

"It's up for an award for 'Best New Director.' I saw it probably about six months ago. It's definitely a great movie. For a first-time director to produce something like this, it's definitely amazing," said Lewkowicz.

"It details a very interesting story, which is the story of Sergio Martinez. He's a fighter who came from nothing and yet, he became one of the most popular athletes in boxing. It's definitely a rags-to-riches story."

The festival website offers this description of Maravilla:

"A true underdog story, Maravilla follows Argentinian boxer Sergio 'Maravilla' Martinez, as he sets out to reclaim the title of middleweight champion that was unfairly snatched from him in 2011 by Julio Chavez Jr.

"Focusing on the rise of Martinez from penniless amateur to world champion and sporting celebrity, director Juan Pablo Cadaveira offers a fascinating glimpse into today's boxing landscape, revealing the politics of the sporting profession that often places entertainment value over the sport itself. In English and Spanish with subtitles."

The veteran southpaw turned 39 in February and will defend his championships against Miguel Cotto on June 7 at New York's Madison Square Garden on HBO Pay Per View. Martinez met fellow Argentine Pope Francis at the Vatican in October, marking the first time a boxer met the leader of the Catholic Church since Muhammad Ali met Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Martinez (51-2-2, 28 knockouts), who is promoted by Lou DiBella, had to rise from the canvas during each of his last two unanimous-decision victories over Chavez and Martin Murray, while also having suffered injuries as a result of those bouts.

After the Chavez fight, during which he regained the WBC***8217;s belt, Martinez received eight stitches to repair a cut over his left eye, two staples in his head and suffered from both a broken left hand and torn ligaments in his right knee, the latter of which required surgery to repair.

Martinez required a second surgery after having damaged the knee injury, later determined to be a torn right meniscus, during his April 2013 triumph over Murray.

Among Martinez***8217;s other wins are a decision over Kelly Pavlik, a stoppage over current IBF 160-pound beltholder Darren Barker and knockouts of former titleholders Sergei Dzinziruk and Paul Williams.

Another world premiere to be featured at the Tribeca Film festival is the documentary Champs, which traces the careers of a few well-known boxers including Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, according to ArtsBeat.

[AllBoxingAD]

LMAO !!!

Roach will pay for those comments.

The fight wont be competitive.

At all.

[Gary Coleman]

cotto has had many different trainers, but he hasn't looked the same as when he trained with his uncle. that is, until he paired with roach. i fear for martinez' soul.

Yeah, that Delvin Rodriguez was some test.

[turnedup]

He did try to make a go of professional soccer once...didn't work out..hell i'd rather be a soccer player in spain or brazil than a boxer..them dudes live like no other athletes in the world. I don't know I mean this is a slap and a compliment all in the same breath tho..this is a guy who made a lot in a sport normally reserved for people who started at it very very very early on in life and he started as a grown man...says something about dude's skill in general.

[The Problem Child]

False...

He is a Ballerina, first and foremost!

[LADIV]

False...

He is a Ballerina, first and foremost!

you are the true definition of a ****** .......

[radioraheem]

A lot of you guys are predicting an outcome the way many did for Matthysse vs. Garcia. I think once again, many of you will be shocked by the outcome.

[Sosay]

Yeah, that Delvin Rodriguez was some test.

^^^This right here. I mean damn, can we see him against real competition before we say he's back?