Sergio Martinez said at a Wednesday presser at MSG that he will dedicate his March 17 fight to battered women. That’s the sweet side of the Argentina-born hitter, who is seen as the best middleweight in the world, but he has a saltier side as well.
Martinez, who fights Irishman Matthew Macklin on St. Paddy’s Day, with an edge, had hard words for Manny Pacquiao, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and their promoter, Bob Arum. “The public and the fans are getting really tired of who’s fighting who, ‘will Pacquiao fight Mayweather, and will Mayweather fight Pacquiao,’ I give up on that, I don’t want to be involved in the discussion who’s fighting who. I believe it’s time for not only talk but action and if by any chance anyone wants to fight me, let’s sit and talk about it, the weight and the division. But I’m getting really sick of it and I believe it’s doing wrong for boxing,” he said through interpreter Sampson Lewkowicz.
He scoffed at Pacquiao’s continued adherence to the line that he is merely the fighter, and that his promoter is in charge of making the fights. “This is an act of cowardice by Manny and Chavez, they say only what the promoter says,” Martinez said. “I’m my own man, the champion, I would never ask the permission of my promoter. If you want the fight, take the fight, don’t say “my promoter,” that’s a coward’s talk. Both of them..Chavez and Pacquiao are a puppet of Bob Arum. I’m not a puppet for Lou DiBella. I’ll fight anyone, that is the difference. I don’t ask Lou which one he wants me to fight, I speak myself, and when anyone’s challenge makes sense, I will do it.”
