Messi beaten to third in Argentina sports awards

BARCELONA goal machine, Lionel Messi, has come third behind a boxer and taekwondo fighter in a poll to find Argentina’s best sports star of 2012.

Messi has scored a record 90 goals in 2012, including 12 for Argentina.

However, Argentine journalists awarded the title to WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, ahead of Sebastian Crismanich, who won the nation’s solitary Olympic gold at London 2012.

Messi was voted the best Argentine footballer playing outside Argentina.

Martinez won the title after defeating Mexico’s Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on points in September to win the world middleweight crown.

The 37-year-old will defend his title against Britain’s Martin Murray, 30, in Buenos Aires on 27 April.