Sergio Martinez Vs Martin Murray & Chris Arreola Vs Bermane Stiverne: OFFICIAL BOXING BREAKDOWN – Boxing News
By Geno McGahee
HBO will be presenting a double header, pitted against Showtime’s triple header this Saturday night. In the main event, Sergio Martinez, 50-2-2, 28 KO’s, will try to continue his boxing dominance as he takes on the unknown challenger, Martin Murray, 25-0-1, 11 KO’s.
Martinez is currently sitting in the #2 position, pound for pound, right beneath Floyd Mayweather, JR. Martinez has earned his way, fighting out of obscurity and taking advantage of every opportunity. He has been a boxer that had a hard time getting a break but he has overcome that and has become one of the most avoided fighters in the game.
After two bad decisions in 2009, a loss to Paul Williams and a draw to Kermit Cintron, Martinez caught his stride. He battered Kelly Pavlik over 12 rounds to win the middleweight title and then avenged the loss to Paul Williams with a devastating second round stoppage win. Three of the last four fighters he beat were undefeated top rated fighters and now he faces another.
Murray’s only claim to fame is a draw with long-time champion, Felix Sturm. Martinez is in a different world of class than Sturm and considering Murray’s perceived lack of punching power, it’s hard to imagine him giving the champion any trouble. This is one of those mandatory fights that Martinez has to take just to keep the titles and keep moving forward with his career. This should be another display of boxing brilliance as Martinez awaits the next big fight, which could be a rematch with Julio Cesar Chavez, JR., or maybe Floyd Mayweather, JR…although that one is a long shot.
The supporting heavyweight eliminator has been postponed several times, but it happens this Saturday night. Two of the biggest punching heavyweight contenders collide in the ring and the bad blood is boiling.
Chris Arreola, 35-2, 30 KO’s, has ruined his chances at heavyweight gold in the past by his lack of preparation. He came into his biggest fights out of shape and paid the price. Vitali Klitschko easily beat an overweight Arreola and then former cruiserweight champion, Tomasz Adamek outworked him in a fight that Arreola should have easily won. These facts weighed heavily on the mind of Arreola and he focused on the sport, coming in at a lighter weight and giving better performances. He has seven straight victories, but none of them were over quality opposition. He is facing, arguably, quality opposition Saturday night.
Bermane Stiverne, 22-1-1, 20 KO’s, is a big puncher. He earned a lot of respect when he knocked out the awkward and difficult Ray Austin in 2011. This fight with Arreola is for all the marbles. He will either become the next fight for a Klitschko or be left in a mangled heap. This fight is incredibly important to both heavyweights as well as the division as a whole.
Arreola has a tendency of allowing his opponents to land on him in order to gauge their power. If he does that here, he may be gauging it as they carry him out of the ring. In the photos that I have seen, it appears that he is in very good shape. He will need to be. Stiverne will be very dangerous and if he’s not in great shape, he could get flattened early.
Don’t go to the fridge and don’t blink your eyes with this fight. As much as I want to see Martinez fight and Judah take on Garcia, this heavyweight collision promises to bring the most excitement. Saturday night, one of these big men will be carried away as the other calls out the Klitschko brothers.
