Boxing Challenge: Martinez returns with KO win.

Friday night from Spain, one of the quietest comebacks that you'll ever hear from began as former middleweight champion Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez returned to the ring in a ten rounder against Spaniard Jose Miguel Fandino.

Martinez retired after losing his WBC middleweight championship to Miguel Cotto in 2014 after taking punishment throughout the fight with his corner stopping the bout in the corner after the ninth round.
Cotto knocked Martinez down three times in the first round and Martinez couldn't use his natural athleticism to avoid Cotto's punches due to his knee problems, which required knee braces during the fight.
When fighters such as Martinez lose their slickness and speed, the fall from prominence is usually a quick one and it seemed like Martinez at the age of 40 after the loss would be a candidate to decline speedily.
I wasn't disappointed to hear of Martinez's retirement and figured it might save him a few pounding as his career began to taper off, but I was surprised when I heard about his planned return.
Martinez didn't strike me as a fighter that would find the need to come back and his opponent in Jose Miguel Fandino wasn't a soft touch even if not a world-class contender.

The comeback was a successful one as Martinez stopped Fandino in seven rounds, scoring knockdowns in the sixth and seventh and final rounds.
Martinez looked pretty good considering the layoff and the body shot that finished Fandino off would have stopped many a middleweight even today.
Martinez was not quite as elusive, but more willing to trade and he made me think of the transition that Erislandy Lara has made in the latter stages of his career- more exciting, slightly less effective and definitely taking punches more often.
From what I saw, Martinez might be able to have some success in his comeback- should he be matched properly.
The concern for me is that the "New" Martinez might get hurt if and when he would face big punchers when he stands in the pocket and his rumored opponent in minor champion Ryota Murata is a strong, if not an overwhelming hitter, so that could be interesting as we see if Martinez can hold up to a top ten middleweight.

Martinez would be an underdog to Murata, particularly if the fight is held in Japan as Murata would draw a huge house there, but Murata is more of a plodder and I could see a less rusty Martinez giving Murata some issues if there is gas in the tank remaining.

Ramon Malpica each scored two points in the boxing challenge to move the season total to 91-81.