Background
Following his 5th round stoppage win over Miguel Espino in December 2009, Pavlik was set to fight former Welterweight championThe 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 scorerAftermath
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