3Sergio Martinez’s priorities are in order.
The legend’s two-loss record was in danger, as Cesar Chavez, Jr. came out of nowhere to nearly knock him out in the 12th round of their match on Saturday. Martinez dominated the vast majority of the fight. All he had to do was run from Chavez to survive.
But he didn’t.
Despite having the win in the bag and being injured, Martinez kept his foot on the gas pedal.
ESPN reported Martinez’s promoter, Lou DiBella, raved about his client’s killer instinct after the bout. He said of the southpaw:
His hand was broken, he got knocked down, his knee was messed up, but he got up and he didn't look to hold. He looked to fight. Sergio Martinez is a man's man. He could have held and grabbed Chavez, or just stay away, but that is not who he is. He wanted to fight to the end and knock the kid out.
And that’s the mindset more boxers need to have.
While fighters—like Floyd Mayweather, for example—often play it smart when they have the win wrapped up to avoid that tally in the loss column, Martinez was thinking no such thing. This weekend, he didn’t just want the W for the W itself, the fact that it was his 50th or it would boost his bank account. It wasn't just that he won, but how he won that mattered to Martinez.
The 37-year old has built up such an impressive resume. But the reason it became so impressive is because he doesn’t care about the face value of that resume. There’s more to boxing than wins and losses—quality of opponents, knockouts, etc.—and Martinez gave folks an example of what to fight for vs. Chavez.
If more boxers had that entertaining mentality, maybe the sport wouldn’t be dying.
David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.
Follow @TheRealDDaniels
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