By: John Martinez
May 25, 2011
Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez (47, 2, 2,KO 26) 2010’s Fighter of the Year,� is much like newly crowned WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins; as good as it gets in the sport of boxing.
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Martinez is a fighter’s fighter. A throwback pugilist who doesn’t weigh his options for future rumbles against opposition that presents the lowest risk to his victory category yet garnishes the most money pocketed. He isn’t interested in padding records and claiming belt trinkets either. Instead, he is only interested in being great and seeking the toughest fights possible, win or lose.
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A far cry from other big name fighters on most people’s P4P lists.
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In a recorded phone interview with this scribe, Martinez discussed what makes him a country mile ahead of other boxing superstars.
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“I� want to show that I am the pound-for-pound best in the World and in order to do that, I have to fight ( Floyd) Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao.”
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For either fight to take place, Sergio would require both men to meet him at 154 pounds. Because of this stipulation Martinez feels Mayweather is the more attractive fight.
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“Mayweather would be a better fight I think because he is physically bigger than Pacquiao and can carry the 154 pounds better than Pacquiao. With Mayweather, I think this would be the most difficult fight of my career and I see it going the distance and being judged on points, but together we would put on a good show.”
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�Before a marquee fight with Pacquiao or Mayweather can materialize, Martinez will climb through� the ropes on October 1st and face whom he believes will be the winner of the WBC Middleweight title fight between Sebastian Zbik and the highly protected Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. on June 4th.
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“I will fight on October 1st and it will either be Marco Antonio Rubio or (most likely) Zbik because I think (Sebastian) Zbik will win – and even if he doesn’t win, Chavez won’t fight me anyway. Its� probably looking like I’ll fight Zbik next.”
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The confidence of Sergio’s words comes on the heels of his devastating knock-out victory over Paul Williams followed up by his masterful performance against Sergiy Dzinziruk earlier this year in which he scored multiple knock downs enroute to a TKO triumph.
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Martinez, who’s 36 years young, attributes his defiance to Father Time as a direct result of� his work ethic.
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“I train for 7 to 8 hours a day cycling and running in the mountains along with working out at The World Crown Sports Boxing Gym in Oxnard, California. We work hard here and excel by pushing each other and asking for things that may seem impossible but it works and its all for the fans that support me. I promise to always fight to my best and give my all every time out.”
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It is this dedication to his labor of love, along with the obvious fact he keeps churning out heart and guts performances, that has boxing insiders swooning over the Argentinian boxer with silver screen� looks and a� Hollywood swagger.
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Martinez’s willingness to battle all comers is a rarity for fighters these days, except of course for WBC light heavyweight boss Bernard Hopkins and WBA junior welterweight king, Amir Khan. Most elite boxers seem to purposely avoid or detour from meaningful contests in order to retain insignificant belts or to cash in on purses that may as well be dividend checks from their handlers, i.e. promoters, advisors, trainers, and cable networks.
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Martinez understands this and believes at least one-pound-for-pound A-lister is doing just that.
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“He (Pacquiao) didn’t show much to me in his last fight with Shane Mosley, which I thought was boring.” He added, “Manny Pacquiao is working his business by picking boxers he knows he can beat and are pretty close to retirement.”
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“He is picking guys that are easy to beat so when you do this, it isn’t hard to be pound-for-pound and� if we fought I would beat him by knock out.”
While I will be attacked by the Pacquiao PR Corporation and the frequently rabid Manny fans for saying the following, I really don’t care. Hysterical blindness will burn your eyes eventually.
Manny Pacquiao’s biggest conquests were against a semi-retired weight-drained mid-30’s part-time boxer and full-time businessman in Oscar de la Hoya who was outclassed by the smaller Floyd Mayweather, Jr. at least one year before.
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Manny’s next most notable win was against a beer guzzling pub crawler (Ricky Hatton) that was never the same after Floyd Mayweather, Jr. got a hold of him 13 months prior via a hook check stoppage.
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Another standout triumph was against Miguel Cotto, who had been manhandled over a year earlier at the hands of a possible enemy that may or may not have entered the ring with loaded gloves, Antonio Margarito.
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Pacquiao’s last two victories on his resume are Antonio Margarito, who had been suspended for over a year do to his exclusive plaster-of-paris boxing gloves edition he almost wore the night he fought and suffered a TKO loss to Shane Mosley. And Shane Mosley himself, a former champion that had looked C class level at best since his fight in January 2009 against Antonio Margarito.
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Oh and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that once again, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. beat Pacquiao to the punch by putting on a boxing clinic from hell one year in advance of Manny fighting Mosley.
People will mention the 24 rounds Manny fought against Juan Manuel Marquez. Fair enough. However, many, and I mean many, experts, writers, and fans alike truly continue to argue that Marquez did more than enough to be credited a win for at least one of their fights. As for the the other 12 rounds? Objective observers believe the two combatants were separated by a single point over� the course of those rounds, many split on who got the better of whom. Either way, these fights were not blow out victories for the man dubbed “The Greatest.”
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So is this the work of Manny feasting on Mayweather’s leftovers, careful matchmaking, or as Sergio Martinez says, a fighter that is simply fighting guys that are very near retirement and therefore easy guaranteed conquests that are producing lucrative payouts?
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In the written words of ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael, “Martinez is a breath of fresh air..simply the man at 160 pounds.”
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I disagree.� I think Sergio Martinez is “the man” period.
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What say you?
John Martinez is renowned boxing expert and writer who has interviewed many of the sport’s top fighters. A regular writer for the Boxscore World Sportswire, he is an Afghan War veteran who is currently on active duty assigned to the U.S. Army Task Force Centaur PAO, S7 & S9, 3rd Brigade 1 ID, 1-6HHB.�