By Don Donatello
Sergio Martinez and his promoter Lou Dibella have been on a media tear. They are ranting and raving that Martinez is the best fighter out there. What they are saying is that Manny Pacquiao’s accomplishments and current stature in boxing is second to Sergio Martinez.
Pardon me, Sergio! Just who and what string of Hall of Fame (HOF) fighter have you fought to have such gull? The most notable opponents on Mr. Sergio’s resume are Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik, two B rated fighters at best. These two won’t even get a sniff at the Hall of Fame. It’s bad enough that they gave Sergio Martinez the Fighter of the Year award based on his win over these two fighters. Now they are also claiming that other fighters are ducking and avoiding Martinez. It is Sergio that is ducking, he refuses to even entertain the idea of fighting anyone at the Super Middleweight division and all the while calling out Welterweights.
Sergio Martinez said he wants to be the best P4P fighter. Calling out fighters two weight divisions smaller than yourself is no way to attain that goal my friend. Fighting anyone right above your own division would surely give you more credence than calling out opponents two divisions below yours, Mr. Sergio. Pacquiao is boxing’s current P4P King because he fights guys who weigh 17 pounds bigger than him.
In Pacquiao’s last seven fights, he weighed in as the smaller man.
03-15 2008 Pacquiao – 129 lbs. Juan Marquez – 130 lbs.
06-28 2008 Pacquiao – 134 ½ David Diaz – 135
12-06 2008 Pacquiao – 142 Dela Hoya – 145
05-02 2009 Pacquiao – 138 Ricky Hatton – 140
11-14 2009 Pacquiao – 144 Miguel Cotto – 145
03-13 2010 Pacquiao – 145 ¾ Joshua Clottey – 147
11-13 2010 Pacquiao – 144 ½ Margarito – 150
05-07 2011 Pacquiao – 145 Shane Mosley – 147
Martinez has been fighting at Light Middleweight since 2002, not to long ago he fought a career long Welterweight Paul Williams at Middleweight. In the first Martinez/Williams fight, Martinez had a 2 pound advantage, 157 to 159. In their second fight, Martinez had a 1 ¼ pound advantage as well, 156 to 157 ¼. Up to William’s last fight at Middleweight before he fought Martinez, Williams has been fighting at Middleweight for about 7 months from 9-25-2008 to 4-11-2009. Also let us not forget Sergio’s walking around weight, reportedly he walks around well above 180 pounds, and rehydrates up to 170 pounds or more on fight night, so he is not a small guy.
Martinez’s last fight at Middleweight was against Light Middleweight Serhiy Dzinziruk.
Martinez is the WBC and WBO 160 pound champion, he is calling out fighters from the 154 pound and 147 pound divisions. Why is he not fighting bigger guys than himself like Manny Pacquiao has been doing? His excuse is that his 5’10 frame would be too small to fight opponents at the 168 pound divisions like Andre Ward. Andre Ward is 6’0” tall, that’s only 2 inches taller than Sergio; and is one division above Sergio’s weight class. But Sergio wants to fight a guy who is at two divisions below, about 4 inches shorter, must be force fed up to 7 thousand calories a day just to make 147 pounds, Manny Pacquiao.
Andre Ward has already said he would love a fight with Sergio Martinez. Ward also hinted that he might be willing to go down in weight to fight Martinez. The wannabe P4P Sergio so far has not warmed up to Andre’s challenge. Instead, he used his 2 inch shorter stance as the reason for not fighting at 168 against fighters like Andre Ward. Even with that, Sergio’s promoter, Lou Dibella, is branding Martinez as the P4P king.
Earth to Sergio & Dibella, Pacquiao fought and obliterated Margarito who is about 5 inches taller, and 17 pounds heavier!
Sergio is also calling out Miguel Cotto. Sergio and Dibella are claiming that Bob Arum is protecting his Top Rank fighters like Cotto from Sergio. Pardon me, dude! Antonio Margarito is a Top Rank fighter and he beat Miguel Cotto. Why not fight Margarito, Sergio? Prove that you are deserving of being the P4P best by first avenging your 7th round TKO loss to Margarito. And by the way, even with a 17 pound disadvantage, the current P4P King annihilated Margarito and sent him to the hospital with a broken orbital bone.
Sergio, you need to shut up fast. You are not even close to being P4P. It’s a long road, your first step would be to avenge your loss to Antonio Margarito to gain some credibility. Show that you can overcome your fear of an opponent that technically knocked you out. Giving lip service as how you would beat Margarito in a rematch won’t raise your stock one bit. Don’t tell us, show us!
It seems to me that current fighters that employ the boxer style and do a lot of running want to only fight smaller guys. Freddie Roach has no problem of Sergio fighting Pacquiao. All Sergio has to do is seek out Pacquiao and fight him at 147. A Martinez/Pacquiao fight is not going to happen at 147 pounds, and it is not going to happen at 154 pounds. I know that, Sergio does too, and everyone else as well.
Sergio is is 36 years old, he is looking for a retirement fund like past Pacquiao opponents like Sugar Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, and Juan Manuel Marquez. To draw attention to himself, Sergio must constantly mention Pacquiao’s name to get any kind of traction for his career. His Fighter of the Year award is bogus. If his FOY award had any credence, he would certainly command the monetary rewards he is seeking. But instead he is left fighting unknowns like Serhiy Dzinziruk and his upcoming opponent Darren Barker for peanuts.
Martinez got the FOY award by largely fighting a smaller opponent, Williams. And a one dimensional brawler who could not deal with his loss to Bernard Hopkins, Kelly Pavlik. Martinez is afraid to fight anyone who is 8 pounds bigger at the Super Middleweight division. Meanwhile, Pacquiao hospitalized an opponent that weighed 17 pounds bigger than him. It’s the same opponent that TKO’d Sergio Martinez in the 7th round, Antonio Margarito.
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