Sergio Gabriel Martinez Argentine professional boxer Date of Birth: 21.02.1975 Country: Argentina

1. Biography of Sergio Gabriel Martinez
2. Early Life and Career
3. International Success
4. World Champion
5. Current Career

Biography of Sergio Gabriel Martinez

Argentinian professional boxer Sergio Gabriel Martinez, known as Sergio Martinez, is a middleweight boxer. He is the current World Champion in the middleweight division according to 'The Ring' and has previously held the WBC World Championships in both the middleweight and junior middleweight divisions.

Early Life and Career

Martinez didn't start boxing until he was 20 years old, previously preferring to play football and ride bicycles. He made his professional boxing debut on December 27, 1997, in Ituzaingo, Buenos Aires, Argentina. His first opponent, Cristian Marcelo Vivas, was disqualified in the second round, making Martinez the winner. He had an impressive record of 17 wins and one draw in his first 17 fights in Argentina.

International Success

Martinez decided to test his skills at the international level as he felt there were no worthy opponents in his home country. On February 19, 2000, he fought his first match in the United States against Antonio Margarito in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although Martinez showed good fighting skills in the early rounds, Margarito knocked him down in the first round and ultimately proved to be the stronger opponent. This was Martinez's first defeat.

In 2008, Martinez started his quest for the WBC World Championship title. His first step towards the coveted belt was defeating Alex Bunema. On February 14, 2009, he had a tense match against Kermit Cintron, knocking him out in the seventh round with a powerful left punch. Although the fight ended in a controversial draw, Martinez was eventually declared the winner by the judges, much to the delight of the audience.

World Champion

On May 21, 2009, Martinez became the WBC World Champion in the junior middleweight division after Vernon Forrest lost his title due to injury. Forrest was unable to fight Martinez, so the vacant title was automatically given to him. On December 5, 2009, Martinez faced Paul Williams in a highly intense match, but Williams emerged as the winner by a narrow margin on points.

Martinez then went on to fight Kelly Pavlik, the middleweight world champion, and convincingly won the match. This victory led to talks of a rematch with Paul Williams, who was also vying for the championship belt. On November 20, 2010, the boxers faced each other again, and to everyone's surprise, Martinez knocked out Williams in the first minute of the second round. His skillful punch was widely applauded by sports enthusiasts worldwide, and even Williams acknowledged that Martinez had flawlessly exploited his defense.

Current Career

Sergio Gabriel Martinez has had an impressive career with 46 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws to his name. He continues to be recognized as one of the top middleweight boxers in the world and has left a lasting impact on the sport.