Sergio Martinez drops Matthew Macklin via 11th round TKO

Middleweight boxing star Sergio Martinez of Argentina secured his 49th victory against Matthew Macklin of Ireland via 11th round TKO at The Theater of the Madison Square Garden in New York Saturday.

Martinez (49-2-2), is fresh from his victory over Darren Barker in October 2011 and he is now on his fifth winning streak since losing to Paul Williams in 2009 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Macklin gave a good fight especially in the early rounds. In the seventh round Macklin surprised Martinez with a snappy right that outbalanced the Argentinean with his glove touching the canvas, forcing the referee to rule a knockdown. The seventh round knockdown triggered Martinez' offensive assault on Macklin with left and right combinations finding their mark in the later rounds. In the tenth round Martinez clearly outpointed Macklin as he dropped the 29-year-old Ireland native to the canvas twice, forcing his handlers to throw the towel signalling the end of the bout. "I was waiting for the mistakes as an experienced fighter would and I took advantage of it when it happened," Martinez said afterward through a translator. "It's like chopping a tree, little by little, and I knew he would fall." "It was the right thing to stop the fight," Martinez said. "He will now have a tomorrow. He would not have had a tomorrow if they continued the fight." Martinez' promoter Lou DiBella said "[Martinez] is Roy Jones in his prime. He's a Mayweather-level guy. The reason they're running from him is because he's that good." With his impressive performance against Macklin, Martinez can now look forward to a lucrative fight against either Floyd Mayweather or Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.