At 36 years old, middleweight king Sergio Martinez has to make the most out of his remaining time in the sport. While the Argentinean has produced a memorable run over the past few years it is crucial that he keeps his momentum and finds a way to stay in the public’s eye while pursuing the biggest fights possible.
Still fresh in the minds of many is Martinez’s thorough destruction over talented German Sergiy Dzinzirk last weekend in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Fighting on HBO’s airwaves for a sixth consecutive time, Martinez outclassed his southpaw foe, dropping him five times along the way for a convincing 8th round TKO that had more than a few people in the sport gushing and pondering his place atop boxing’s mythical pound for pound ladder.
That distinction currently belongs to WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, set to face off with ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley on May 7th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. What has been definitely noticeable as of late is that Martinez seems to be dismissive, albeit slightly at times, towards the skills and accomplishments of his fellow champion.
Whether it is jealousy or simply a ploy to keep his name hot in the media, Martinez has been taking his share of digs at Pacquiao these days. In assessing the Filipino star’s battle with Mosley, a truly remarkable fighter during his prime, Martinez continued to fire shots while hyping himself up.
“While he continues to fight with opponents who have no chance of winning, and I continue to fight against the best, one day I will [become the best pound for pound fighter],” said Martinez is a recent BoxingScene.com piece by Jhonny Gonzalez.
Martinez is correct in addressing his recent level of competition, as Dzinziruk makes for a good lineup standing next to the likes of Kermit Cintron, Kelly Pavlik, and Paul Williams, but it seems to be his next few moves in mind that are equally as striking.
The latest buzz has Martinez meeting up with former title contender Peter Manfredo sometime this summer, a fight that would likely draw well on the East Coast. Manfredo is a tough pug who gained a taste of fame through his time on the initial season of ‘The Contender’ but he is known just as much for his losses to Joe Calzaghe, Sergio Mora, and Jeff Lacy than any of his wins.
Martinez would likely have his way with the Providence fighter and he has made it loud and clear that afterwards he would be eyeing the winner of the June 4th Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Sebastian Zbik WBC middleweight tilt. While you can understand Martinez wanted to gain back the WBC piece that was unjustly taken from him, Chavez Jr. nor Zbik aren’t exactly killers by any stretch of the imagination and that’s taking into consideration Junior’s vast improvements under Freddie Roach.
True, Pacquiao’s last three fights against Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito, and now Mosley haven’t been the most captivating upon their announcements but I have seen worse bouts on paper. While Mosley is considered faded and Margarito was scathed for his hand wrap controversy, it is worth noting that all three men did hold world titles at one point and to this day they have amassed a combined record of 119 wins against 17 losses with one draw and 86 knockouts.
In a perfect world Martinez would be able to settle his issues with Pacquiao inside of the ring but logic seems to say that the size difference between the two men is too substantial. Martinez seems to understand this and will likely be setting his sights on other big names towards the end of the year.
“Because I know that I have to face reality that it’s almost impossible given the height and weight. It makes more sense to go after fights with Miguel Cotto or Floyd Mayweather Jr. Against either of them, I’d love to show that I’m at an amazing point in my career.”
