HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kelly Pavlik vs. Sergio Martínez was a professional boxing match contested on April 17, 2010, for the WBC,
WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...
and ''The Ring'' middleweight championship.


Background

Following his 5th round stoppage win over Miguel Espino in December 2009, Pavlik was set to fight former Welterweight champion
Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...
. However, due to a major
staph infection A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the ''Staphylococcus'' genus of bacteria. These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasi ...
and an allergic reaction to some antibiotics that nearly killed him, Pavlik was forced to drop out of the fight. He was eventually able to fight again, agreeing to face WBC Light Middleweight Champion Sergio Martínez, who in his last bout was on the receiving end of a controversial majority decision against Williams in his first bout at Middleweight.


The fight

Martínez controlled the early rounds with quick in and out movements, refusing to heavily engage with Pavlik. Martínez managed to cut Pavlik's left eyebrow in the first round. Pavlik then started to mount a comeback from round 5 by blocking Martínez's punches more effectively. Pavlik spent most of his time headhunting trying to land a hard right, which did help Pavlik score a knock-down in the seventh round, however Martinez would later claimed it was an accidental fall, when their feet got tangled up. In the last four rounds, Martínez would back and started to open up Pavlik's cuts more, making his face extremely bloody. All three judges scored the bout for Martínez with cards of 116–111, 115–111 & 115–112. HBO's unofficial scorer
Harold Lederman Harold Lederman (January 26, 1940 – May 11, 2019) was an American boxing judge and analyst. He began his career as a boxing judge in 1967 and joined the cast of '' HBO World Championship Boxing'' in 1986, and was there until HBO dropped boxin ...
scored the fight 115–112 for Martínez as did the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
.


Aftermath

In the post-fight interview, Pavlik stated that he could not see due to the blood from the cut above both of his eyebrows. With Martínez winning the middleweight championship, he was required to make some decisions regarding his WBC light middleweight title. The sanctioning organizations for boxing recognize that boxers may choose to move up or down in the weight categories, yet they also wish to make all championship belts available to challenge. As such, their rules prohibit a fighter from simultaneously holding belts in multiple divisions. This prohibition includes holding a title with one sanctioning organization while also holding a title in a different weight class with a different organization. Eight weeks after the Pavlik fight, when Martínez failed to announce a preference to be a light middleweight or a middleweight champion (the WBO rules allow ten days to decide), the WBO stripped him of their middleweight title. A week later, Martínez did inform the WBC that he was willing to vacate their Light Middleweight title and maintain his WBC Middleweight belt. Although there was a rematch clause in the contract, Pavlik chose not to enforce it, stating his desire to move up in weight.


Undercard

Confirmed bouts:


Broadcasting


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavlik, Martínez 2010 in boxing 2010 in sports in New Jersey April 2010 sports events in the United States Boxing matches at Boardwalk Hall Pavlik Boxing on HBO Middleweight championship matches