Following HBO?s televised Sergio Martinez?s middleweight title defense against Matthew Macklin last night, boxing analyst Jim Lampley concluded:? Sergio Martinez desperately wants a fight with Mayweather. Could he win it? You be the judge.?
I took that question to the panel of judges at Dave?s barbershop on San Fernando Road.
?In my humble opinion Sergio Martinez is a very special fighter,? exclaimed Dave the Barber:? At thirty seven he is a very fresh fighter who is not broken down by years of taking punches as an amateur. His movement in the ring is exquisite. His punches are blinding fast with pop and the man is acutely aware of everything that is going on in the ring. Perfect blend of athletic ability and skill, Sergio is a real middleweight champion.?
?A champion he might be, but he ain?t no Roy Jones,? cried out Downtown Ronnie Brown:? Keeping his hands down on his knees like that! He wants to fight Mayweather. Floyd will take his lunch money and send him back to the school yard where he belongs to learn about fundamentals of sweet science; because you can?t beat Floyd with just athleticism. If that Irish boy gave him problems early imagine what Floyd would do. You don?t have to imagine because I?ll tell you; Floyd will pot shot Sergio to death and then stop him in the middle to late rounds. Case closed.??Not so fast,? cut in Al the Barber:? I think Sergio would give Floyd all kinds of problems. First of all he is a bigger man. He hits harder and his movement will give Floyd trouble. Plus he would not fade away in the latter rounds. This would be a fight I would pay to see. Mr. Mayweather said he likes challenges. So let him put his money where his mouth is and take a real challenge against Sergio. Floyd has never been in the ring with a guy that moves like that. I make it an even fight.?
?I wouldn?t go that far,? cut in Big Steve:? But Sergio does have skills and more than that, he behaves like a true champion… But what bothered me yesterday was HBO commentary. It?s as if they were trying to create drama where no drama existed. It?s like the boxing world decided to compensate that Irish boy for a bad decision in Germany on St Patrick?s Day. Aside from a few good right hands landed by Macklin, Martinez had control of the fight. Like the man said it?s a twelve round fight and it was like chopping a tree. And then the seventh round knock down, which wasn?t a knock down. It was a push. The replay clearly showed Macklin pushed him over his leg. Yet all four HBO guys including my favorite, Harold Lederman agreed and called it a knock down and made it a ten eight round. Even with a knock down you don?t have to score a round ten eight, because Sergio controlled that round as well. May be next time I should watch HBO telecast with volume off. But getting back to Mayweather Martinez, where do I sign up? Could Sergio win it? He?d be in it to win it.?
