Athletes in most sports often find it hard to get motivated when they face supposedly inferior opposition. If you watched Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 Kos) take on Darren Barker (23-1. 14 Kos) in their middleweight tilt at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic city on Oct. 1 you’ll realize that boxing is no different. Martinez might have won via an 11th-round knockout, but he looked far from being at the top of his game.You can either blame the formerly undefeated Englishman Barker for this since he was basically a no-name opponent or give him credit for making Martinez look mediocre throughout most of the fight. It was probably a little bit of both as Martinez didn’t look his usual motivated self and Barker was a frustrating opponent.It’s a good bet that the WBC Diamond Middleweight Champion from Argentina would have looked a lot sharper against the likes of Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. Martinez suffered a nose injury in the fourth round and breathing became harder for him after tha...
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