Bring on Manny Pacquiao & Paul Williams: The Sergio Martinez Challenge
By Gina L. Caliboso
Recently, Sergio Martinez has sat ringside at two big events. When the camera for Floyd Mayweather – Shane Mosley panned out, I saw Mark Wahlberg (I’m always looking for him!), Oscar De La Hoya, Mariah and Nick, and finally, I saw Sergio Martinez, 45-2-2, 24 KO’s looking on waiting for the action to start.
On May 8th, it was reported that Martinez attended the bout, if you call it that, and in the end, Paul “The Punisher” Williams vocalized his potential fight schedule. Williams wants either “Floyd, Manny, and if they aren’t available – a rematch with Martinez.” I think the order is a little off here. Williams should be Martinez’s next opponent. And more importantly, Martinez has earned his right to pick and choose any fight.
When we last saw Martinez, he made Kelly “Ghost” Pavlik, look like he just didn’t know what to do anymore as an elite boxer. Pavlik had a defeatist look in the corner and although he has always had heart, physical size, and brawl to his boxing career, he just couldn’t bear down to fight his fight against Martinez.
In addition, if I had to put all three fighters in this fantasy matchup – Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, and Martinez, speed is key, and each fighter has harnessed their own levels of speed as a weapon. All three fighters work angles, go forward, and execute power punches on the inside. Most recently, Mayweather stepped up his speed and execution and took Mosley out of his own ability. My favorite fighter, Pacquiao, definitely proves Yoda speak as “Judge me by my size?” He, like Mayweather, has speed and works a great right hook and the punches come from every angle as well.
In looking at Martinez, he has become a better fighter as his last bouts have shown. A former cyclist and soccer player, conditioning is not going to be a problem. It’s been said that he picked up boxing to enhance his training. Martinez, however, has managed to step up his ring generalship enough to know that he needs to control the pace of the fight from the moment the bell rings. There can be rounds a boxer might take off, which I think is never a good idea, but the boxer must proactively execute a strategy and take every round as if it’s the last round.
In his last three bouts, just going back to 2009, Martinez has steadily risen through the ranks getting better with each fight. In February 2009, he fought against Kermit Cintron, to a 12 round draw with the scorecards as 116-110 for Martinez, with the remaining cards at both 113-113.
In December 2009, Martinez followed up to his draw with a loss to Williams. Because of William’s distinct height and size, a fighter can look overwhelmed in the execution of punches and any sort of defense. But this wasn’t the case for Martinez. In the first round, both Williams and Martinez had knockdowns but recovered enough to turn it into a 12 round bout. Martinez eventually lost the fight with a 12 round MD, but there’s a scorecard I still can’t quite process – 110-119 (Pierre Benoist) (remaining cards, 115-113 (Lynne Carter), 114-114 (Julie Lederman).
This year in April 2010, Martinez fought and defeated Kelly “Ghost” Pavlik in a 12 round unanimous decision. With an obvious height, weight, and even ring skill advantage, Martinez left no doubt as to how you can tactically defeat a fighter who is taller, younger, and even more experienced.
Pavlik looked defeated despite winning a few rounds and finding somewhat of a rhythm against Martinez’s boxing. But you saw it in Martinez face and skill that he quickly turned it around to his advantage and took the fight away. Martinez had an on switch that went for more power and strategy and earned the unanimous decision.
The Argentine southpaw also proves that size and height do not matter as long as you have stamina and work on becoming a better boxer during the course of a fight. At 35, Martinez is 7 years younger than both Pavlik and Williams. He doesn’t show his age at all.
Martinez is now ranked #1 among middleweights with Germany’s Felix Sturm, ranked at #2. Sturm is also the current titleholder for the WBA Middleweight belt.
Martinez needs to seriously consider this fight before a bout with Williams. But maybe that’s another topic for another article. Would anybody care about a Martinez bout against Sturm? There’s possibly more money and prestige for a Martinez – Williams II showdown.
For any future matchups, momentum is definitely on Williams’ side. Considering how Williams’ bout ended with a victory (technical decision) over Cintron, the Williams camp has to do some damage control to a degree over who he is going to fight next. Like I said, he has declared his possible opponents. Martinez and Williams – Part Deux, with Martinez as a titleholder has some great appeal.
I’ll just mention that it seems that a lot of people want to work their fight schedules on if whether Congressman Pacquiao and Mayweather happens. It’s out there, it’s in the air, and it’s the responsibility for the boxing promoters to make the superbout happen. But until then, Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez has included himself as a championship boxer among middleweights. His last three bouts have shown he can box and only gets better.
He has shown that he adjusts accordingly against any possible opponent. Just who will his future opponent be? I say Williams, but he can definitely make the case he can fight whoever he chooses to fight and come away as the winner.