LAS VEGAS ? On this Mexican Independence Day Sergio Martinez of Argentina laid waste to Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., the scion of a Mexican boxing legend, to take the WBC middleweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision before an electrified sold out crowd of 19,186 at the Thomas and Mack Arena at UNLV on Saturday night.
But Martinez nearly gave it all back in the 12th round when he foolishly decided to stand and trade with Chavez, who clipped him on the chin with two powerful left hooks that sent him sprawling to the canvas. He managed to scramble back to his feet and was wobbly, but he weathered the storm and pulled out the victory. Judge Stanley Christodoulou scored it 117-110, while judges Adalaide Byrd and Dave Moretti each scored it 118-109 for Martinez. The Daily News scored it 116-111 for Martinez.
?He fought a great fight and he was tougher than I expected,?? Martinez said. ?It was a tough fight for Julio to have his first loss.??
It was a dramatic ending to a fight that Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KOs) had dominated from the opening bell. Perhaps feeling that he needed to give the largely Mexican crowd something to cheer for Chavez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) pressed the attack in that final round and nearly scored an upset, reminding many of the time his father, Julio Sr., KO?ed Meldrick Taylor in the final five seconds to win their match.
?I was 20 seconds away from knocking him out. I just started way too late,?? Chavez said. ?I really started in the eighth round. I hurt him. I wanted to knock him out. I tried to knock him out.??
STEVE MARCUS/REUTERS Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sergio Martinez (r.).
There was a sizeable and vocal contingent of Argentine fans who made the trip to Las Vegas to support Martinez, who was headlining the biggest boxing event of his career. The first time Martinez fought in Las Vegas he was just starting his career and was brought in as an opponent for Antonio Margarito. Martinez lost on a seventh round TKO and earned just $900.
That fight set Martinez on his path to becoming one of the top Pound-for-Pound boxers in the sport. It was a 10-year journey that culminated in his beating Kelly Pavlik for the WBC and WBO middleweight titles.
Martinez had the WBC title stripped away for not making a mandatory defense against Sebastian Zbik in 2010. Chavez won the WBC title by beating Zbik. Martinez thought the title had been unfairly taken from him and given to Chavez. That is why he entered the fight with so much anger, which had festered during the two years that he pursued a fight with Chavez.
