Sergio Martinez Comes Alive, Stops Macklin After 11

Matthew Macklin put up quite a fight for about seven rounds tonight, including a debatable knockdown call, but all that knockdown call -- which appeared to be at least partly a trip -- really did was wake up world middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, who then spent the next four rounds beating the hell out of the challenger en route to a late stoppage.

Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO) started ripping Macklin (28-4, 19 KO) with left hands, hard jabs, and the occasional body shot, and while the English-Irishman faded, Martinez zeroed in and took over the fight, flat-out dominating Macklin down the stretch.

Late in the 11th round, with Macklin starting to realize he had to get more active, Martinez floored him hard on a left hand. Macklin sailed to the canvas, really, but did get up. Still on bad feet, Macklin was vulnerable, and Sergio knew it. He went for the kill with seven seconds to go, and with Macklin having no choice but to throw punches, Martinez bombed him again, putting him down a second time just before the bell.

Boxing Betting Lines: The middleweight division doesn't get a better fighter by Boxing Odds than Sergio Martinez who is fighting challenger Matthew Macklin for 12 rounds in another HBO World Championship Boxing event. This bout is Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 10 p.m. ET. HBO will broadcast this huge fight Live from The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. You can access Boxing Odds anytime at BookMaker from your mobile device.

Boxing Betting Online: The Boxing world and HBO are bringing Championship fighting to St. Patrick's Day this year when Sergio Martinez defends his middleweight title against Matthew Macklin at Madison Square Garden.

Matthew Macklin (28-3-0, 19 KO's) is an aggressive fighter but underdog by Boxing Odds at BookMaker, and this will be interesting against such a strong fighter as Sergio Martinez. Macklin is 8 years younger and could probably use that a little to his advantage. The problem is that both of these fighters are very aggressive, but Martinez is much quicker and experienced than his challenger.

Macklin is a bull in the ring, and he will probably try to maximize his push and try to catch Martinez early. The mobility that Martinez demonstrates makes it an extra job just to pinpoint his button for those jabs. Macklin may try too hard and wear down by trying to take this one earlier than I would expect.

The Sergio Martinez that I have seen looks unstoppable, and I would expect to see a driven and angry man in this fight against Matthew Macklin. Martinez is 48-2 with 27 KOs and 2 draws fighting whoever he can. He is not scared, but it seems we don't hear about him enough in the boxing news until lately about this title controversy.

This fight is going to be a treat by any Boxing Odds, but the other end of the possible fight has to do with Bob Arum. Sergio Martinez actually has a legitimate beef with the WBC the way the promised to force Julio Cesar Chavez Jr to fight him. The belt that Junior has was really stolen from Martinez actually, so he should be coming to him. Bob Arum is just another promoter that doesn't necessarily always shoot straight.

"I'm focused 100% on Matthew Macklin, and I'm not interested in anything else. Floyd had enough time to reach a deal. Anyway, if he wants the fight he knows who he has to speak with." Is what Martinez is saying, but I'm not sure he is keeping focused on Macklin. He needs to take care of this fight first, and let the next fight or fights as he is talking fall as they may.

The great thing about this fight is that it isn't about this extracurricular activity but only about Boxing and betting those Boxing Odds at BookMaker.

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