Martinez Makes The Ghost Disappear

Martinez was awesome, glad he's getting recognition now

 

It sounds like there's a good chance there will be a rematch.

What do you think Pavlik needs to do differently?

I think the biggest mistake was the way he pawed with the jab. It often didn't have any snap on it, he used it moreso as a range finder trying to follow the right hand behind it. Because there was no snap on it Martinez was able quickly move/counter.

More body punching wouldn't have hurt either.

 

I picked Martinez to win this fight, but it was clear that Pavlik was coming on in the middle rounds. The cut really, really turned the tide and all of the sudden Martinez couldn't miss. And that took a lot of of Pavlik. Getting hit isn't that fun and fighting when you can't see makes it all the worse.

Unlike the HBO crew, I think Pavlik is a big puncher, one of the biggest in the sport, imo. But he is a slow, deliberate puncher. I like his chance far more against Paul Williams because Williams is easier to hit than Martinez.

I think Pavlik has a very good chance in the rematch, but he needs to change up some things so that he can land his punches. If Loew is the guy to do that, well....he needs to prove it because Kelly really fell apart in a fight it looked like he was going to win. Otherwise, it's time for a new trainer.

 

Pavlik has the worst corner in boxing.

Their advice to him in the Hopkins fight was "don't let these motherfuckers win".

Brilliant.

 

Pavlik lost fair and square but when he was in command in the middle rounds, he looked every bit as the destroyer he was right after Jermaine Taylor. He was methodically beating up Martinez and I was almost convinced Martinez wouldn't hear the final belt.

With that said, I don't know if it's because he has some bitch in him or if he really couldn't see but one way on the other, the cut clearly affected him. I think the rematch will be interesting and I hope Sergio won't make the mistake of thinking he's got Pavlik's number.

Props to Martinez. It's pretty impressive to beat Pavlik, Williams and Cintron successively. (Well I feel he beat the three of them despite only winning 1 of these fights officially)

 

Same here, I thought it was a foregone conclusion that Pavlik would win then, all of a sudden, Martinez starts to dominate. Maybe it was the cut, maybe Martinez got his second wind and adjust, maybe it's something else, but whatever it is, a rematch would be great on paper

 

I don't know if anyone has a similar take on the fight as I do - but I saw the first few rounds as being a simple case of Martinez being too fast for Kelly, and moving constantly which didn't allow Kelly to ever get set to punch. At first I thought the whole fight would end up that way. Then Pavlik started to adapt, which actually is a strength of his, although he is very limited in how much he can change in order to adapt. What he does is basically feel out his opponents rhythm, and then start to adjust when he punches, and at what distance. That's about as much as he can do.

So in the middle rounds Pavlik started to see how Martinez was essentially jumping in, left hand, jump out. So he started to counter Martinez better, and then follow him as he retreated, trying to pin him down when he could. Martinez slowed down a hair, and Pavlik was connecting with some reasonable shots, but nothing too dramatic. At that point I thought that the fight may well finish up with Pavlik countering & stalking Martinez to a decision.

Then Martinez took a page from the B-Hop book and he stopped jumping in and out. He would instead jump in, fire his left hand and then... he stayed inside. He did this repeatedly for the last 4 rounds of the fight and never stopped. He would stay inside and throw 2-3 more straight shots, always another left hand, and Pavlik could never adapt to this. Sometimes Martinez would move around Pavlik and keep throwing, but sometimes he stood right in front of him and just kept throwing, driving Pavlik back.

And this is what surprised me the most in this fight. Kelly Pavlik has a TERRIBLE habit of doing the SAME thing over and over when someone comes in to punch him. He covers up, bends a litte, and simply EXPECTS that the opponent will retreat so he can then come back and counter or press a bit. But even when Martinez stayed inside, Pavlik never changed his habit, and so he'd sort of start to come out of his defense to counter... and Martinez was still there! This allowed Martinez to land numerous flush, unblocked shots in close which is what really did the damage in the late rounds. At one point Martinez actually threw the same exact combination 3 or 4 times in a row, always coming in, staying inside and finishing with a few more punches. It was like he found the magic formula. I remember thinking that if only Pavlik's corner would tell him to throw a short hook or cross about head level after he felt that 1-2 by Martinez, he'd have KO'd him. Don't defend - punch as Martinez punches. Martinez was standing in there, defense be damned, punching fearlessly.

Kelly Pavlik is skilled, but way too predictable. This is why versatile/smart fighters figure him out and make him look like crap. I am not sure that Pavlik is going to be able to do anything to change that, since he is not a versatile guy. If I were him, I would not take a rematch against Martinez now. He'll lose again. Seek out some other good, but cooperative fighters and win some fights. Work on some changes as you go. Maybe down the road try for a rematch. And as if I needed to harp on it again - can we please get somebody in the corner who can give their fighter some PRACTICAL fucking advice? When the essence of your between-rounds advice to your fighter is "Get him!", you are no longer constructively contributing.

 

Another in a long line of outstanding posts. I didn't get to see the fight so I don't know how accurate you were but for the record it was an entertaining read and great breakdown on Pavlik's limitations and habits.

 

Excellent post.

 

:: if you didnt see the fight how the fuck can you gauge whether what he wrote was insightful or sheer hogwash?

 

I wouldnt recommend a rematch for Kelly, and even though he talks about it, I doubt it'll happen.

At first I thought Pav coming on was a case of him adjusting, but now I rewatch the fight and realize that it was just a case of Martinez slowing down. Once he regained his 2nd wind in the 9th and let his hands go, Pav could do NOTHING except eat leather.

 

Martinez-Williams was a close fight. I have to laugh when I see it called a robbery.

 

I scored it a draw. Neither guy did anything to separate himself from the other.

The "robbery" is the 119-xxx scorecard that indicated the fix was in.

 

I had it 115-113 for Williams. That scorecard was obviously a hideous joke but the fight itself wasn't a robbery. Close and competitive as hell.

 

martinez won that fight against williams. it was close, but martinez landed nearly ALL of the clean flush punches

 

Calling Martinez-Williams a robbery is a stretch, but I definitely think Martinez was more deserving of the win.

A ROBBERY was Martinez-Cintron.

 

I believed you, MTF.

 

I think Williams won that fight close. Nevertheless, he's proven his point. He can make a case that he's the best middle in the world. Hopefully Martinez will give him another shot to prove it.

 

I agree. Martinez Vs Taul Paul was close, but I thought Martinez won. Not a robbery though, unlike the Cintron fight of course.

 

Any time one judge's scorecard is way off people scream robbery even if the other two had it scored correctly.

 

Mosley, the best at 160.

Mosley>Margarito>Martinez>Pavlik.

:)