By John F. McKenna (McJack): Boxing fans have seen it all before, where a fighter had all the credentials to be a world champion but because said fighter did not have huge box office appeal he could not land the kind of fights he wanted. That is the position which The Ring and World Boxing Council (WBC) Diamond belt middleweight title holder Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) is in. Sergio has proven himself over the past couple of years to be a worthy opponent for any fighter in his weight class.

“Maravilla” as Sergio is known to his fans is now considered by most boxing pundits to be the #3 ranked Pound for Pound fighter in the world, right behind #2 ranked Filipino icon WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s) and #1 undefeated superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s).

Martinez did it the hard way. He is an all around athlete and before trying his hand as a boxer Sergio was a cyclist and then a soccer player. Martinez did not begin his boxing career until the relatively late age of 21. And because he started late he jump started his professional career by passing up the amateur ranks.

Sergio has now established himself as one of the elite fighters in boxing. However “Maravilla” has the dubious distinction of being too good for his own good. The big money fighters of today, namely Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., have avoided Martinez like he has the bubonic plague. To some extent he has been left in limbo in the attempt to land meaningful fights while keeping one eye on Pacquiao and Mayweather.

Martinez scored a devastating one punch KO over Paul Williams in the 2nd round in November 2010. The KO was considered by many boxing observers to be the KO of the year, but it only served to scare prospective future opponents away. Martinez has a number of problems in his attempt to land the kind of money he feels he deserves. Although he is currently at the top of his game and thought to be in his prime, Sergio is already 37 years old and time is rapidly running out. The 2nd huge problem he has is that he does not have a huge fans base.

Martinez has been attempting to lure WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1, 31 KO’s) into the ring for quite some time. Chavez has the luxury of being the son of perhaps the greatest of all Mexican warriors Julio Cesar Chavez. Because of his name and the popularity of boxing in Mexico Chavez Jr. has been able to bring in the fans to watch his fights. But here again Martinez, up to this point, has been far too risky for Julio to engage in the ring.

Martinez recently signed a contract to fight the winner of the June fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andy Lee. But Sergio has been there before only to have the rug pulled out from beneath him. Presently Martinez is going to take a wait and see attitude in the hope that he finally lands a big payday.