Sammy Vasquez impresses as Aron Martinez retires on stool following sixth round
LOS ANGELES - Sammy Vasquez, the war veteran who survived two tours in Iraq, continued his rise in the welterweight division, defeating Aron Martinez by sixth-round technical knockout to remain undefeated in a scheduled 10-round welterweight bout at Staples Center.
Martinez quit on his stool at end of the sixth round, citing a left elbow injury. Fans at Staples Center booed as the second televised bout of the inaugural Fox telecast ended with a fighter quitting on his stool.
"A victory feels good of course, but I wanted more," Vasquez said. "I wanted to go 12 rounds, if it would have lasted that long. I wanted a very decisive win. Unfortunately, he got hurt, but every fight is a learning experience for me."
In the heavyweight fight that preceded the Vasquez-Martinez matchup, Amir Mansour apparently bit through his tongue against Dominic Breazeale in the opener and the fight was stopped after the fifth round when Mansour said he couldn't close his mouth.
The fight was the co-feature of the main event, as Danny Garcia remained unbeaten with a unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero for the WBC welterweight title vacated when Mayweather retired.
Vasquez (21-0, 15 KOs) was fighting in a WBC welterweight semifinal eliminator, which means he could be fighting for the title sometime within the next year.
"It's on to the next chapter and I'm ready for all of the guys at the top," he said. "Eventually, I'm going to get them."
The popular southpaw from Pennsylvania, 29, now living in Colorado Springs, wore olive-green trunks with Army written across the back of his waistband, and came out as the aggressor.
His southpaw style seemed to give Martinez, who was fighting in his hometown, problems, landing flurry after flurry after getting Martinez in the corners, as Martinez spent much of his time covering up.
"Of course I won the fight, but Martinez is a tough competitor, a tough Mexican fighter," Vasquez said. "I tried to mix it up with him a little bit, but there was no sense in me trying to do that. I could have easily outboxed him, which I started to do, but I wanted more. I was just starting to warm up."
Martinez (20-4, 4 KOs) was coming off a big win against Devon Alexander in October, but has now lost four of his last six fights, including a controversial decision defeat to Guerrero in June. This might have been his last shot at a big fight.
"I hurt my elbow and couldn't throw my jab," Martinez said. "I was doing my best and trying but once I hurt my elbow I knew it was going to be tough to keep going."
(Photo of Vasquez, left, and Martinez, right, by (Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo)