Kelly Pavlik vs. Sergio Martínez was a professional boxing match contested on April 17, 2010, for the WBC, WBO and The Ring middleweight championship.[2]
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| Date | April 17, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC, WBO and The Ring middleweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Martínez defeated Pavlik by unanimous decision | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
editFollowing his 5th round stoppage win over Miguel Espino in December 2009, Pavlik was set to fight former Welterweight champion Paul Williams. However, due to a major staph infection and an allergic reaction to some antibiotics that nearly killed him,[3] Pavlik was forced to drop out of the fight.
He was eventually able to fight again, agreeing to face WBC Light Middleweight Champion Sergio Martínez,[4][5] who in his last bout was on the receiving end of a controversial majority decision against Williams in his first bout at Middleweight.[6]
The fight
editMartínez controlled the early rounds with quick in and out movements, refusing to heavily engage with Pavlik. Martínez managed to cut Pavlik's left eyebrow in the first round. Pavlik then started to mount a comeback from round 5 by blocking Martínez's punches more effectively. Pavlik spent most of his time headhunting trying to land a hard right, which did help Pavlik score a knock-down in the seventh round, however Martinez would later claimed it was an accidental fall, when their feet got tangled up. In the last four rounds, Martínez would back and started to open up Pavlik's cuts more, making his face extremely bloody. All three judges scored the bout for Martínez with cards of 116–111, 115–111 & 115–112.[7][8][9][10] HBO's unofficial scorer Harold Lederman scored the fight 115–112 for Martínez as did the Associated Press.
Aftermath
editIn the post-fight interview, Pavlik stated that he could not see due to the blood from the cut above both of his eyebrows.
With Martínez winning the middleweight championship, he was required to make some decisions regarding his WBC light middleweight title. The sanctioning organizations for boxing recognize that boxers may choose to move up or down in the weight categories, yet they also wish to make all championship belts available to challenge. As such, their rules prohibit a fighter from simultaneously holding belts in multiple divisions. This prohibition includes holding a title with one sanctioning organization while also holding a title in a different weight class with a different organization. Eight weeks after the Pavlik fight, when Martínez failed to announce a preference to be a light middleweight or a middleweight champion (the WBO rules allow ten days to decide), the WBO stripped him of their middleweight title.[11] A week later, Martínez did inform the WBC that he was willing to vacate their Light Middleweight title and maintain his WBC Middleweight belt.[12]
Although there was a rematch clause in the contract, Pavlik chose not to enforce it, stating his desire to move up in weight.[13]
Undercard
editConfirmed bouts:[14]
Broadcasting
edit| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Australia |
Main Event |
 Hungary |
Sport 2 |
 Poland |
Polsat Sport Extra |
 United States |
HBO |
References
edit- ^ "THE RING RATINGS - As of April 4, 2010". ringtv.com. 4 April 2010. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ "Kelly Pavlik vs. Sergio Gabriel Martinez". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ "Kelly Pavlik says he nearly died from reaction to medication". USA Today. 2009-10-23.
- ^ "Kelly Pavlik v Sergio Martinez in AC on April 17". boxinginsider.com/. Boxing Insider. 14 March 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ "Martinez next for Pavlik". skysports.com. Sky Sports. 14 March 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ Dan Rafael (16 April 2010). "Pavlik feels better than ever ahead of fight". espn.com/. ESPN. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ "Martinez proves his worth against Pavlik". ESPN. 18 April 2010. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ^ Press Association (18 April 2010). "Sergio Martinez beats Kelly Pavlik to become two-weight world champion". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ J Gatskie (18 April 2010). "The Ghost Goes Down: Kelly Pavlik Loses Titles To Sergio Martinez". bleacherreport.com. Bleacher Report. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ Kevin Mitchell (19 April 2010). "Sergio Martinez beats Kelly Pavlik to become two-weight world champion". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ "WBO strips Martinez of title". ESPN. June 2010. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
- ^ "Martinez stays at middleweight". ESPN. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
- ^ "Pavlik to move up in weight". ESPN. 11 May 2010. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ^ "BoxRec - event".