Accumulation

I watched the Martinez vs. Barker fight on HBO tonight.

Barker was a 15-1 underdog, but he outperformed and stretched Martinez to the 11th round when a right hook buckled Barker, and he couldn't beat the count. Emmanuel Steward hit the nail on the head when he commented that the knockout seemed to come out of nowhere, the punch was partially blocked, but due to the accumulated punishment over the entire fight (especially the last 2 rounds), Barker folded and couldn't continue.

Much to be learned from watching a fight and a performance like Martinez's...

- Sometimes you need to keep plugging away. For all intents and purposes, an 11th round knockout of a 15-1 underdog is a disappointment for Martinez... BUT... he won, and only because he didn't become frustrated and stuck to his game plan and was able to adapt to the circumstances. He kept his eye on the prize and left the ring victorious.

- Slow and steady wins the race fight... If you watched just the knockout, it looked like it couldn't have possibly been legit. Barker had to have been paid off to take a dive like that!!! He blocked the punch and still went down?!?! Impossible!! But not if you watched the entire fight, saw the body punches, and the numerous right hooks that took their toll and eventually led to Barker's demise. It was 11 rounds of accumulated punishment that won the fight for Martinez, not one punch but hundreds that slowly whittled down his opponent.

Take your time. Baby steps. Little by little. Patience. Focus... It takes time, and there will be failures, stumbles, hurdles. But keep punching and dodging and accumulating punishment against your opponent. Eventually you'll get the KO...