Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez signed a six fight extension with promoter Lou DiBella yesterday that will likely see the Argentinian remain with the promoter until the end of his career.
The extension comes only a day after it was announced that Martinez will defend his WBC middleweight title against England’s Darren Barker (23-0, 14KOs), on October 1st.
Barker currently holds the European middleweight title, and is scheduled to defend it on July 23rd against an as yet unnamed opponent in his native England (Martin Murray is rumored to be a strong possibility).
He has also held the British and Commonwealth titles in the past, but will be facing a huge step up in competition against consensus world number one Martinez.
Prior to Barker entering the running, Martinez spent several unsuccessful weeks attempting to secure fights with everyone from a then inactive Floyd Mayweather Jr to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, all to no avail.
It seems that for the most part none of the bigger names in or around his weight are interested in Martinez due either to his own relative lack of star power comparative to his skill level or differing promotional interests.
Amir Khan begins sparring, continues war of words with Zab Judah
As a result many fans were disappointed when Barker’s name was announced as his latest challenger, although clearly it isn’t for lack of trying that Martinez at this stage of his career is still forced to fight relatively obscure opponents.
Although Barker isn’t well known in the U.S however, he is a relatively decent draw in the U.K, and Martinez might be better served financially to stage the fight there so long as his American TV deals can be accommodated. Advertisement
As successful as DiBella and Martinez’s partnership has been, and as rare and admirable as Martinez’s loyalty is in this day and age, many fans will also no doubt wonder if signing effectively the rest of his career to DiBella will hold Martinez back from securing the biggest fights available.
Saul Alvarez aiming to eclipse De La Hoya, be ready for Pacquiao in one year
Although DiBella didn’t name any names, he was quoted in Dan Rafael’s article earlier today as saying that there were several other promoters interested in Martinez and trying to lure him away.
Fans opined across message boards and through various social media outlets that had Martinez awaited the end of his existing deal with DiBella, which ends in July, and eventually signed with Golden Boy or Top Rank for example, he might have been able to secure the bigger fights he craves.
While the big two do have a good deal of the talent however, at 36 it isn’t that likely that either would necessarily want him to start beating younger more famous prospects such as Chavez or eventually Saul Alvarez who in the long run will provide their promoters with a lot more income.
Also at middleweight the majority of the top ten fighters today aren’t concentrated between the biggest U.S promoters as they are in some divisions, and as such changing promoters might have done nothing for Martinez. Staying with DiBella then, with whom he has always had a good relationship, seems the right move.
Paul Wallis, Pitt: “Martinez could fight Williams again eventually, but the winner of Sturm vs. Macklin would be a good fight if he could get it”
