The fickle, hard-to-please nature of boxing fans and writers never ceases to amaze. This past Saturday night, Sergio Martinez dispatched the tough-yet-unheralded Darren Barker in the 11th round to retain his middleweight title. As the referee waved off the fight, many reporterss at ringside had already claimed this was far from vintage Martinez. Perhaps.
But had Martinez ended the fight early, we would have complained that a stiff was put in front of “Maravilla” and we’d have decried the bout a waste of HBO money and fans’ time. Where are the fights with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao that we all crave?
Well, the Darren Barker fight exemplifies the poisoned chalice that is firmly in Martinez’s grasp: too big for Pacquiao and Mayweather (despite Martinez’s protestations that he can drop as low as 150 pounds) and too small for the big men at super middleweight. Martinez is a small middleweight. No disrespect intended, genuinely, but who can blame Martinez for perhaps not being as motivated for a fight with Darren Barker as his past brutal wars with marquee names Paul Williams or Kelly Pavlik?
For now, middleweight bouts for Martinez will mean middle-tier opponents, and while he gazes hopefully into a fantastical future of bigger paydays, the opponents he’ll face in the interim will not be headliners. But you know what? Perhaps a distracted Martinez levels the playing field somewhat and will result in some entertaining fights. A St. Patrick’s Day matchup in New York against Andy Lee or Matthew Macklin could be in the cards, especially after Lee brushed aside Brian Vera on Saturday’s undercard.
