Sergio Martinez stops Macklin in 11th

Associated Press

NEW YORK

After slicing up Mack The Knife, Sergio Martinez wants his piece of a middleweight belt.

In a fight dubbed “Get Your Irish Up” on St. Patrick’s night, Martinez dominated Matthew Macklin in an action-packed bout and stopped him after 11 rounds. Macklin, an Englishman whose parents are Irish, was the clear favorite of the crowd at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, but Martinez was clearly the better fighter.

Although no major belts were at stake because of sanctioning issues, Martinez kept his reputation as the top middleweight in the world with a late surge. He decked the game but outmatched Macklin twice near the end of the 11th round, then Macklin’s corner asked referee Eddie Cotton to stop it before the 12th round began.

“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 now is 49-2-2 with 28 knockouts. He struggled early and even had his glove touch the canvas for a knockdown in the seventh round after Macklin connected with an overhand right.

But that was Macklin’s final big punch as he fell to 28-4 and ended the fight on his stool, the blood from cuts on his face having stained his green trunks.

Now, Martinez wants one of the official championships; he had the WBC belt stripped early in 2011 without ever losing it in the ring. He targeted Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. as the logical opponent.