By John F. McKenna (McJack)
The Ring middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KO’s) has become increasingly frustrated in his inability to land a big money fight against WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s) who has been calling out for quite some time. Recently in his frustration he referred to the 8 division and pound for pound champion as a fake.
The frustration is understandable. Many fighters resort to bad mouthing other fighters in order to draw attention and raise their own public awareness. David Haye for instance, not only talked his way into a title with Wladimir Klitschko, he wound up with a 50/50 split of the proceeds. It was proof that in some cases trash talking achieves its objective.
In Haye’s case it worked extraordinarily well because he will more than likely land another title shot against WBC heavyweight champion Vitlai Klitschko next summer.
In Sergio’s case he is in the unfortunate position of fighting in a division where there are no super stars. In order for him to land big money fight he has to lure one of the two superstars into the ring with him. Thus far his attempts at landing a fight with Pacquiao have landed on deaf ears. “Pacman” has already stepped up in class from 108 pounds to where he fights presently at around 145 pounds. It is understandable that at 5’6” he does not want to step up yet again to fight a full fledged middleweight.
Recently Martinez has turned his sights on the other super star in boxing, Undefeated WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s). It is highly questionable as to whether Martinez will be any more successful at landing a fight with Mayweather as he was with Pacquiao.
The reality is that Sergio is lacking in name recognition and both Pacquiao and Mayweather at this stage of their careers are looking to go up against fighters who can draw huge Pay Per View (PPV) numbers. That is why Manny finally settled on a way over the hill Shane Mosley last May. It was a fight that neither Pacquiao or his trainer Freddie Roach wanted to take. But just as in any other business, money trumps all else. Mosley had a huge fan base and by fight night Top Rank CEO Bob Arum was able to work his magic and make the masses of people think Shane had a real chance. The Pacquiao – Mosley fight drew 1.3 million PPV buys.
