In the wake of the Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez fight, boxing promoter Lou Di Bella says that his fighter has been beaten to retirement.
Miguel Cotto defeated Sergio Martinez after nine rounds in a one-sided battle, giving him the WBC middleweight championship and a historical feat of achieving world titles in five different weight classes. It was a feat that "Junito" completed as a Puerto Rican boxer.
Lou Di Bella spoke to the NY Daily News on Sunday, right after "Maravilla's" loss, wherein he was knocked down three times in the first round during the Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez fight.
"He said he was out on his feet after the first round," Di Bella said. "He felt his body wasn't the same after that. He felt disconnected. He never regained his poise after that."
A number of injuries were plaguing "Maravilla" during his preparations for the Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez fight. Most of them were incurred during his fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in 2012.
While he did achieve victory via a 12-round unanimous decision, he broke his left and tore his right meniscus, which required surgery, and placed him out of action for almost a year.
After the Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez fight, "Maravilla" was taken to the Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. His MRI revealed that he sustained a broken nose, while his CT scan showed no abnormalities.
But for Lou Di Bella's part as the fighter's promoter, the primary concern was that "Maravilla" did not look like the champion that he was. While no direct statements about retirement were made, he believes that Miguel Cotto's performance may have just pushed his fighter towards that direction.
"It never looked like him in there," Di Bella said. "I've seen him get knocked down and get up before but I've never seen him look like that. "I was trying to figure out what was going on."
"I think that Cotto looked excellent but that was a 39-year-old athlete in there last night. You have to think it was a factor," he added.
Sergio Martinez has one more fight left in his contract with both Lou Di Bella and HBO.
