Former middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, whose run at the top of boxing was brief but sensational, announced his retirement from boxing at the annual International Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend banquet on Saturday night in Syracuse, New York.
"I am here to thank those that with their unconditional love helped me, people who will forever be with me in my heart," Martinez said during translated remarks. "I am here to thank those that from the very first day helped me to trust my instincts. I am also thanking those who did not believe in me because it was them that filled me with strength. Those who put stones on my road only helped to make my feet stronger. ... Most of all, I give my thanks to boxing for giving me the life I have today and making me the man that I am.
"Thanks to the family of this marvelous sport and I want to thank all of my fans around the world. I am thanking them here at the International Boxing Hall of Fame [in Canastota, New York] because I am officially retiring from boxing after 20 years as a boxer. It is time to step aside and continue on to new horizons. Here I retire. Thank you so very much and to victory always."
Martinez's retirement did not come as a surprise. He turned 40 in February and had not fought since last June after losing the 160-pound world title by one-sided 10th-round knockout to Miguel Cotto. Elbow and knee injuries sapped of him his speed and power the past few years.
But at his best during his 2010 to 2014 championship reign, Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs), known as "Maravilla," was ranked by most among the top five fighters in the world. He had strong skills, power and an exciting style.
"Sergio Martinez was an extraordinary athlete and boxer," said Lou DiBella, who promoted Martinez after he arrived in the United States in 2007 and became close to him. "His remarkable accomplishments were primarily as an aging athlete with chronic pain, yet he never complained and he appreciated every opportunity he had to shine."
Martinez, the 2010 consensus fighter of the year and one of the greatest fighters from Argentina, carried himself with dignity outside the ring. There was little trash talk and no legal trouble, and he used his position as middleweight champion to better not only his life but also those who were less fortunate.
He was a soccer player and cyclist when he was a teen and did not turn to boxing until he was 20, yet he became one of the greats.
He was born into abject poverty and was bullied as a child, so when he became a famous fighter and began to earn millions, he put the money to good use. He was champion of anti-bullying causes, spoke out against domestic violence, visited battered women's shelters and gave money to those causes.
"He was a champion for underdogs," DiBella said. "I have valued his loyalty and his personal excellence. It was an honor to have been his promoter. It is an even bigger honor to remain his friend."
Martinez fought the final 11 bouts of his career on HBO or HBO pay-per-view and was one of the network's cornerstone fighters during his championship reign.
"Like millions of boxing fans around the world who have enjoyed watching his spectacular career, everybody at HBO Sports will miss Sergio's professionalism and elite fighting skills," HBO Sports president Ken Hershman said. "What we will do is celebrate a career that is full of accomplishments by one of the most determined athletes of this generation. Watching Sergio win the lineal world middleweight championship on HBO was a landmark moment in the sport's history.
"His decision to be an activist and campaign against bullying is just one example of how he has taken his celebrity and used it as a positive force to make the world a better place."
Martinez turned pro in 1997 and boxed in Argentina until 2002, when he moved to Spain and began boxing there as well as in England.
In 2007, Martinez connected with adviser Sampson Lewkowicz, who strongly believed in Martinez's talent and set out to find him an American promoter. He sent fight DVDs to various promoters without any takers except DiBella, who was blown away by the talent he saw and signed Martinez at the end of the year.
"When Sampson sent this DVD around, I looked at it and I didn't know anything about [Martinez], and I was like, 'Oh my God, where did this guy come from?'" DiBella told ESPN.com in 2010. "He wasn't fighting King Kong, but he was fighting top European talent and he was playing with these guys. And I also saw speed and power. I was blown away. And I have always had a lot of faith in Sampson's eye.
"I thought it was like Christmas morning when I looked at the DVD."
In 2009, Martinez, a left-hander, claimed an interim junior middleweight belt and was later elevated to a full titleholder when Vernon Forrest declined to defend against him and was stripped of his title. In December 2009, Martinez moved up to middleweight to accept a fight with top contender Paul Williams on short notice. Their fight featured incredible action, as they traded knockdowns and challenged for fight of the year honors. Martinez lost a debatable majority decision, but he had made a name for himself.
Four months later, he got a shot at middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, badly cutting him and rallying down the stretch for a unanimous decision to win two alphabet belts and the lineal title. Martinez would go on to make six successful title defenses, all against quality opponents.
In his first defense, he met Williams in a rematch in one of the most anticipated fights of 2010. Martinez pulled a stunner by knocking Williams out cold with one massive left hand that is the signature moment of his career. It was named knockout of the year and Martinez fighter of the year on the strength of the wins over Pavlik and Williams.
Martinez went on to defend against former junior middleweight titlist Sergey Dzindziruk, who was supposed to be a threat but got knocked down five times in an eighth-round knockout, and Darren Barker and Matthew Macklin in 11th-round knockouts.
Then Martinez faced Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a September 2012 pay-per-view headliner. Martinez had been stripped of his sanctioning body belts, and Chavez claimed one of them -- and Martinez wanted it back. Other than getting knocked down in the 12th round in a dramatic scene, Martinez dominated the fight and won an easy unanimous decision, but he injured his knee on the knockdown and needed surgery after the fight.
He returned seven months later and made his final successful defense by returning to Argentina for a homecoming fight in which he outpointed Martin Murray in front of a crowd of some 50,000 at a soccer stadium during a storm in Buenos Aires. Martinez had come back too soon from knee surgery, reinjured it and needed another surgery. Fourteen months later, he faced Cotto and was a shell of himself in the one-sided loss.
A year later, almost to the day, Martinez decided to hang up his gloves for good, leaving fans with a slew of lasting memories of a great champion and a better person.