Sergio Martinez of Argentina, Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico and Pawel Wolak of Mount Arlington, N.J., were boxing’s big winners Saturday night.
Martinez, the linear middleweight champion, was especially impressive, scoring an eighth-round knockout over WBO junior middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk of Germany last night at Foxwoods.
Cotto, meanwhile, earned a 12th round TKO over Ricardo Mayorga at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Martinez, the linear middleweight champion, dominated the previously unbeaten Dzinziruk (37-1, 23 KOs) throughout the fight, dropping him four times before finishing him at 1:43 of the eighth round. Martinez’s victory validated his stunning second-round knockout of Paul Williams last December.
“It’s a dream of mine and I know will be pound for pound and I will obtain it,” said Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KOs). “I want the best rivals in front of me.”
Cotto and Mayorga waged an entertaining battle with Mayorga often swinging wildly, while Cotto stuck to his tight defense and picked his spots. He would land 127 jabs to just 15 for Mayorga, while connecting on 249 punches to 176 for Mayorga. Cotto (36-2, 29 KOs) was comfortably ahead on the scorecards when he delivered his biggest punch in the 12th round, a left hook that dropped Mayorga, who somehow injured his hand. Mayorga (29-8-1, 23 KOs) tried to continue, but soon quit 53 seconds into the round while standing in his corner.
“My left thumb was dislocated,” Mayorga said. “I didn’t want to lose, but my left thumb, I felt it hit to back of my hand. I tried to move my thumb and make a fist and I couldn’t.”
Cotto retained the WBA super welterweight title. “The finish was amazing,” he said, adding Mayorga’s wild-antics and trash talk during the fight, “didn’t take my calm.”
Also in Las Vegas, Wolak won by TKO when Yuri Foreman of Brooklyn didn’t answer the bell for the seventh round.
Foreman, fighting for the first time, since losing his WBA junior middleweight title to Cotto last June, was dominated by Wolak, who won just about every round before Foreman retired on his stool.
Foreman (28-2, 8 KOs) was overwhelmed by Wolak’s aggressive style that constantly pressured Foreman, forcing him to fight in close quarters. “We did everything we had to do to win,” said Wolak (29-1, 18 KOs), a native of Poland. “My plan was to punish the body and punish the head and stop him from moving. One way or another if I put pressure on you I’m going to eventually wear you down.”
Foreman had injured his right knee in his loss to Cotto at Yankee Stadium and underwent reconstructive surgery. In addition to the surgery, Foreman’s wife gave birth to their first child and his long-time manager Murray Wilson died suddenly. The ring rust and distractions may have taken a bigger toll than Foreman anticipated. He wasn’t as mobile as expected and absorbed a high volume of punches.
“So many things happened since last fight, I didn’t feel like myself,” Foreman said. “No excuses. No knee. And taking nothing away from Pawel, he had a great performance. But from the long layoff I didn’t feel myself. I felt mushy. I should have boxed, but I wasn’t moving. I was on the ropes all the time.”
Foreman, who is studying to become a rabbi, said he’ll take time to evaluate his career after his second straight loss. “I need to relax. Take time off and rethink things and we’ll see,” he said.
Wolak, meanwhile, is hoping to land a fight for one of the junior middleweight belts. “I’m trying to be the best,” he said.
In other bouts in Vegas, Miguel Vazquez of Mexico retained the IBF lightweight title by decision over Lenny Zappavigna of Australia, and Ravens safety Tommy Zbikowski won his second pro fight with a first-round knockout. Meanwhile at Foxwoods, after a sluggish start Andy Lee (25-1, 18 KOs) of Ireland scored a 10th round knockout of Craig McEwan (19-1, 10 KOs) of Scotland.
