In city where almost every other street seems to be named Peron or Evita, promoter Lou DiBella saw a middleweight’s name on cabs, buses and billboards. On DiBella’s trip from the airport to his hotel in Buenos Aires, there it was, again and again.
Sergio Martinez.
Welcome home.
“He’s really like a rock star here,’’ DiBella said.
It’s been eleven years since Martinez last fought in Argentina, a beautiful country with a star-crossed history and boxing tradition undergoing a revival because of those who left to fight elsewhere.
Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KOs) returns Saturday night on HBO (8:30 pm ET/PT) against Martin Murray (25-0-1, 11 KOs) after more than a decade abroad. He lived and trained in Madrid. He fought in the UK. He made a pound-for-pound name in the United States. It was a journey of discovery, a personal quest. Martinez found what he believed was always there on his horizon.
He grew up in Quilmes, south of downtown Buenos Aires in a town known for a brewery, soccer and poverty. He tried soccer. It would have been hard not to. Google Quilmes. Then, look up the list of notable people from the town of about 240,000. Almost all of them are soccer players.
He also dreamed of racing on the international bicycling circuit. But that ended when a prized bike was stolen when he was 15. That theft was part of an upbringing – mean streets, Argentina style – that prepared Martinez for what he would later forge into an instinct within a fighter ranked among the world’s top four, including Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Ward and Juan Manuel Marquez. Martinez, the son of a laborer, grew up around neighborhood bullies. He learned how to confront them. Fight them. Identify them.
Over the last four years, you could watch Martinez and detect an unshakable sense of self and confidence in what he can do. He engaged Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a wild punching duel in the 12th round last September. It looked like a foolish gamble then. He had an insurmountable lead on the scorecards. But he did it anyway, perhaps because he knew he could survive as he always has. It was an amazing three minutes that seemed to sum up the gutsy nature of a fighter with an unorthodox style.
Don’t look for the insecurities that lead to trash talk. You won’t find them. Don’t look for the complacency that leads to unexpected losses. It’s not there. If it had, it would have appeared and ended Martinez’ ambitions long before anybody in the U.S. of even Argentina knew who he was. He paid his dues, so often that there is widespread respect for him in his homeland. In the wake of his triumph over Chavez Jr., Martinez met Argentina’s president, Cristina Kirchner. When was the last time a U.S. fighter was invited to the White House?
“Sergio is hands down the greatest fighter I have ever promoted,” DiBella said during a conference call not long after he arrived Wednesday in Buenos Aires. “Not only because he is a terrific talent. Not only because he is at the top of the pound-for-pound list, right up there with Floyd Mayweather, but also because of the type of man he is. He is a good human being. He has a great sense of social consciousness. He’s back in his homeland where he’s waited for this opportunity, to fight again in Argentina for many, many years.
“You’re getting a chance to see a Hall of Fame fighter, who, in my mind, is one of the best middleweights who ever lived, and one of the two great middleweights in the history of Argentina.
“You can mention Sergio Martinez in the same sentence as Carlos Monzon at this point and you’re not doing any injustice to Monzon.’’
Over time, Martinez will get the appreciation he deserves. But time also poses a potential problem. He’s 38. According to longtime advisor Sampson Lewkowicz, he promised is dad that he would not fight past 40. He’s also coming off knee surgery for an injury suffered against Chavez Jr. Murray, a tough inside fighter managed by Ricky Hatton, is bound to test that right knee with pressure that will force Martinez to employ lateral movement.
There are also potential distractions. Martinez has fought in Buenos Aires, but never as a hometown hero who has captivated a nation. There were signs of it in September when a small crowd of fans waving the powder blue-and-white Argentine flag celebrated his victory over Chavez by dancing on the floor at Las Vegas Thomas & Mack Center. But that crowd figures to be just a tiny fraction of the 40,000 expected Saturday night at an outdoor soccer stadium.
Martinez is grateful for the attention.
But he promises not to be deluded by it.
“This is not going to be an easy fight, because Murray has lots to gain and little to lose,” he said. “Today, I see Murray in the same situation that I was in four years ago, and it takes a lot of hunger for glory to get here. I have nothing but respect for him.”
Respect for a craft and a country where the lessons began.
