Sergio Martinez will be the first to admit that it was not a lucky punch that knocked out Paul Williams. He does not have to defend himself about those claims, the middleweight champion from Quilmes Argentina defends his title against undefeated Sergei Dzinziruk on HBO Saturday night from Foxwoods Resort Casino
The 2010 ?Fighter of the Year? has every reason to be known as the Peoples Champion. Now, and deservingly so, Martinez is being tested. In boxing at times it is being in the right place at the right time, and for Martinez, who has never ducked a challenge, that is why a win Saturday leaves no room for argument.
This is a challenge that HBO put in front of Martinez? promoter Lou DiBella, a defense that Martinez looks for. ?I never want an easy fight, said Martinez a few days ago before breaking camp and departing for Foxwoods. ?I want to fight the best. Mayweather cannot fight me, Pacquiao cannot fight me. I need to fight somebody very challenging and the best opponent, or the best challenger, is Sergei Dzinziruk. Nobody else is left.?
For sure, strong words from a fighting champion and why DiBella and many others believe Martinez is the people?s champion. Because he backs up his words with the impressive hard work in the gym that has resulted in success, however there remains an opinion that punch to the head of Williams in November was thrown at the right time in the first round.
That Martinez will not be able to look that good in the ring with Dzinziruk, and that Martinez should not be classified to be in the same ring with Mayweather or Pacquiao. That could be answered quickly Saturday night with a commanding win.
Dzinziruk, (37-0, 23 KO?s) the WBO Junior Middleweight champion early last week said his opponent wasn?t special. It seems those who saw the knockout over Williams may still not be impressed. We at ringside still wonder where that punch came from. Martinez showed some flaws in his championship win over Kelly Pavlik early last year. He had his difficulties with Kermit Cintron and in his first fight with Williams in 2009. But all of those flaws have come to past working with trainer Ganriel Sarmiento.
?He is punching real hard,? claims Sarmiento. ?He is hitting harder than his last fight against Paul Williams.? And for now Martinez is content at 160, but as he said, will never back down from a challenge. Fighting at 168 could diminish his ability to throw hard punches but that has been left for another time.
The focus is on Dzinziruk and reputing this claim as the Peoples Champion. ?The fact that this fight is happening is a tribute to the type of champion Sergio Martinez is,? says DiBella. At one time DiBella also said that about his former champions, Pavlik and Jermaine Taylor, but he never called them champion of the people.
?This is the fight HBO wanted,? he said. ?They wanted Sergio in a difficult match-up and it?s typically Sergio Martinez? way. Sergio said ?Put him in front of me and I?m going to fight him? and he is. He is the boss and that is why he has become the ?People?s Champion.?
There were talks about Miguel Cotto, Bob Arum of Top Rank had other ideas, and Dzinziruk an unknown fighter in this country became the opponent. ?He?s a very good fighter,? says DiBella. ?And this is consistent with Sergio?s pattern from Kermit Cintron to Paul Williams to Kelly Pavlik, to Paul Williams and now to Sergiy Dzinziruk.?
?There?s not a single fighter in the sport, not one that?s gone through a ?Murderer?s Row? like that in recent fights. And like I said that is a credit to the greatness of Sergio Martinez.?
Martinez makes no noise about the claim coming from DiBella. Saturday night will be another test and he may get the needed and deserved exposure on HBO if fight fans opt to not order the Showtime pay-per-view Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga welterweight title fight.
?I?m the champion and I want to be the pound-for-pound ?best,? says Martinez. Maybe in the eyes of many not the people?s champion, but if Martinez is successful against Dzinziruk there has to be a discussion of putting him in that category as one of the best.
e-mail Rich Mancuso: [email protected]
