Sergio Martinez scores quick KO win in Argentina – with Bonavena as headliner
Most Argentine boxing legends earned their reputations in the fabled Luna Park Stadium, but one of them had never fought there at all until last night.
Fighting at the end of a special, invitation-only function at the venerable boxing venue in Buenos Aires, former Ring middleweight champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez scored a quick knockout win over Colombia’s Jhon Teheran, stopping his overmatched foe in less than half a round on Tuesday.
Keeping his hope alive to fight once again for a world title, the 48-year-old Martinez looked in the best physical shape of his life during the build-up of the fight, and made quick work of an opponent who won most of his fights against sub .300 opposition and had his only two loses in as many trips to Argentina in previous years.
It took only a few powerful right crosses from Martinez’s southpaw stance to put Teheran on notice, and after setting him up with a few solid jabs Martinez landed a demolishing left on Teheran’s temple to send him diving head first to the canvas for the full count. Referee Gerardo Poggi waved off the contest at the 1:27 mark.
“I am so powerful, damn!!”, exclaimed Martinez (now 57-3-2, 32 knockouts) after the stoppage, psyching himself up a little further by stating that “they can’t make you believe that you’re done when you’re 48, I am not stopping until I get my title shot!”
In a weird twist of events, Teheran (18-3, 15 KOs) posted a video after the fight suggesting he had been offered extra money to take a dive, but without mentioning those who made the alleged offer. Teheran recanted his version in an apology to Martinez hours later.
Earlier in the night, Hector Sosa improved to 15-2 (KOs) at the expense of previously unbeaten Laureano “Dinamita” Sciuto (11-1, 7 KOs). Former Olympian and blue-chip prospect Brian Arregui moved up to 8-1 (4 KOs) with a second round stoppage of Matías Galucci (8-3, 4 KOs) and Cuban transplant Damian Arce made an impressive debut with a thorough domination of an outgunned but game Sebastian Castillo (7-1-1, 3 KOs) in a unanimous points win.
The event was promoted by Chino Maidana Promotions, a local outfit helmed by former champion Marcos Maidana, marking the first time that the two most successful Argentine boxers of the past quarter of a century have worked together, even though Martinez owns his own promotional company.
The entire card was a most unusual event, as it was built to support the premiere of “Ringo,” a series on the life and tragic death of former heavyweight contender Oscar Bonavena.
With a red carpet rolled out to receive a long line of A-list celebrities and a huge screen occupying an entire wall of the room, the series documenting Bonavena’s rise to rock-star fame in his native country got off to a great start. The series will be available on the Disney Star+ streaming service in Latin America starting on Friday.
The cast of Ringo – Photo by Disney/Star+
Diego M. Morilla writes for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first-place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest, and he is the moderator of The Ring’s Women’s Ratings Panel. He served as copy editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.
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