Saturday night, a rare thing happened. For the first time in ages, a well-hyped main event between two of the sports most talented boxers has managed to deliver against some of the highest expectations. In the build-up to this fight, many questioned whether Martinez’ (50-2-2) age will turn against him in his fight against the much younger, and much bigger Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.(46-1-1) These questions were quickly put to rest after Martinez thoroughly out-maneuvered and out-boxed the young champion into oblivion. There is no denying that Chavez had his moments, but in comparison to how regularly Martinez was controlling the rounds, it was hard to remember. Aside from a couple of the early and middle rounds, Martinez absolutely dominated the hulking Chavez through the first eleven rounds of the fight. With his masterful use of footwork and inside boxing, Martinez was able to pick apart Chavez with relative ease. Things quickly changed however as the final round of the bout. Towards the closing minutes of the fight, Chavez caught the coasting Martinez with an unexpected flurry of vicious hooks that floored Martinez. At this point the crowd went absolutely wild as Martinez continued to stand in front of the attacking Chavez, refusing to run away or clinch. Somehow, Martinez managed to survive Chavez’ final onslaught and made it to the final bell. To tell you that this final round was intense was the understatement of the year, and is something that has to be watched by any boxing fan. As the final scores were announced, it was obvious who was going to be awarded the fight due to the gap in between scores. Martinez won a unanimous decision on scores of 118-109, 118-109, 117-110. It wasn’t the most competitive, but it was certainly one of the most exciting finishes to a long overdue bout. Don’t be shocked if plans for a rematch are announced soon. All I know is that I’ll definitely be watching.
