Martinez managed to outland, cut, knockdown, and control his opponent throughout the fight, and after all was said and done he received a majority draw for his dominating performance. Now this may appear to be a strange statement to boxing neophytes, but is an all too familiar scene for long time boxing fans that have grown used to bad judging and crooked decisions. 

Cintron came into the fight supremely confident, seemingly riding a wave of redemption after the recent revelation of illegal hand wrapping tactics employed by Margarito’s corner that put his two losses to the Mexican boxer into question. Yet the consolation of believing oneself to still be truly undefeated appeared to be a fleeting enjoyment at best as Cintron put on an uninspired performance. He appeared tentative and was stingy with his punches, as he continued to eat left hands from Martinez throughout the fight.  

The climax of the fight came towards the end of round seven after a Martinez left hand dropped Cintron, who mistakenly believed he was hurt by a head-butt. Confusion ensued as it appeared that the referee called an end to the fight as Cintron rose off the canvas on the count of ten. Chaos followed as the ring filled with so called “officials.” At the same time Cintron lost his composure and began to plead and what seems like verbally accost the referee, who apparently changed his ruling and later claimed that Cintron beat the count. In any event after several minutes of bedlam the fight continued to the dismay of Martinez who to his credit did not let the ruling affect his concentration. On the contrary, Martinez came out more fired up and determined, as did Cintron who managed to plead his way to a second chance.  

After round seven the fight continued in much the same way as before, with Martinez landing the cleaner punches and largely avoiding punishment himself. Going into round twelve, Martinez should have been legitimately well ahead on the cards. Shortly after the start of the round Martinez inadvertently landed a left on the back of Cintron’s head as he lowered it, leaving Martinez no other target. The referee made his presence wrongly felt again as he deducted a point from Martinez. This deduction proved the difference maker in the fight, as the final scores read 116-110 for Martinez and 113-113, 113-113. Even with the point deduction the last two scores by the judges remain a mystery in a fight that wasn’t even close. However, Martinez still deserves credit for what should have legitimately been an official victory over Cintron who was less than impressive.  

This fight showed that Cintron wasn’t simply the victim of two possibly now questionable losses to Margarito, but that he still has plenty of work to do in the gym. In short this fight further highlighted his weaknesses and perhaps lowered his stock in the division. Martinez, on the other hand, faired well in a high profile fight, which should give him more opportunities in the future. Instead of going on a tirade about incompetent judges and referees this writer will conclude this article by saying that official records and titles have lost their meaning a long time ago and now the only opinion that matters is that of the fans. 

Official Quotes:

Frank Santore: (Referee for Martinez vs. Cintron regarding the end of the seventh round)... “I didn’t hear the bell, that’s why there was some confusion.  Cintron got up at the count of nine so the fight was not over.”

Sergio Martinez: “The fight was over when I knocked him down the first time so I won twice.  I didn’t think he made it up at the end of the seventh round.”

Kermit Cintron: (Do you think you did enough to win?) “Hell yeah I did enough to win.  I clearly won it.  I thought he hit me with a headbutt in round seven.  Nobody hits that hard.”