Despite Scare in Late Rounds, Martinez Hangs On Against Chavez Jr.

Good gawd! What looked like a completely one sided match with Sergio Martinez out punching the bigger, slower Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. through 10 1/2 rounds turned interesting in the final 1 1/2 rounds of the fight.

For the majority of the match it was simple, the faster Martinez picked apart his opponent with straight jabs to the body and head. He easily won the first 10 rounds.

Between rounds Chavez’ coach Freddie Roach described exactly why Martinez was winning every round:

“His speed is just too much!”

But finally Chavez let his hands go in the 11th round hitting Martinez with some solid combinations. That’s when things got really interesting. In the final 12th round Chavez found his mark with some great power punches that sent Sergio Martinez to the ground part way through. From then on it was Martinez withstanding punishment looking punch drunk. He could have clinched his way through, but Martinez chose to try to continue to out punch Chavez. To be honest Martinez barely hung on to win the fight.

The final result:

117-110, 118-109, 118-109 for Sergio Martinez.

Let’s do it again!