A middleweight title fight between defending champion Sergio Martinez and former star of The Contender Peter Manfredo is in the works for this summer according to Manfredo?s manager Larry Army.
?It?s not confirmed yet?, Army told 8countnews.com, ?but it?s very close. I don?t see any issues stopping us from making the fight.?
Army said the fight would take place between July 9th and August 1st in Manfredo?s home base of New England. The Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Manfredo?s hometown, and Connecticut casino?s Foxwoods and The Mohegan Sun are the venues under consideration.
The fight would air on HBO. There are rumors that the Martinez ? Manfredo fight would be packaged along with a Brian Vera ? Andy Lee rematch as the co-feature.
Martinez?s most recent fight took place in New England at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Connecticut. The events promoter, Lou Dibella, who is the sole promoter of both Martinez & Manfredo will also be promoting the welterweight title fight between Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz at that same venue next month.
In fact, out of the four boxing events that have or have been scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, Dibella has promoted three of them. Coincidentally, the only boxing show that?s taken place at the MGM Grand Foxwoods that Dibella did not promote, the finale of the fourth season of The Contender, that season?s runner-up Ehinomen Ehikamenor was a Dibella fighter.
For Manfredo, he would be headlining in a region where he is one of the biggest boxing draws around. However, he would be playing a role he?s unfamiliar with on his home turf: he?ll be an underdog. In his thirty fights that have taken place in New England, Manfedo?s only home region defeat was a 2008 super middleweight TKO defeat to Sakio Bika in Providence.
For Martinez, it will be his third defense of his middleweight championship. After winning the title via a convincing decision over Kelly Pavlik in 2010, he?s impressively defended it twice with a one punch knockout of Paul Williams that was named 2010 KO of the year and a five knockdown performance en route to a 8th round TKO of top junior middleweight Sergiy Dzinziruk earlier this month.
Martinez?s recent run has been so impressive that he is universally regarded as one of the top three pound for pound fighters in the world along with Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, with some media outlets recently putting his as high as the number two spot behind Pacquiao.
If the fight happens, it will be Manfredo?s second opportunity to fight for a lineal world championship. In 2007, he was stopped within three rounds by Joe Calzaghe in a super middleweight championship fight.
