By Dan Ambrose: Legendary boxing trainer Emanuel Steward is going with Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) to defeat WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) in their fight on September 15th on HBO at the Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas.

Steward told esnewsreporting.com “It’s a toss up, but I’d have to give this fight to Sergio, but it’s going to be a very competitive fight.”

It may or it may not be a competitive fight. It’ll only be competitive if the fight takes place in a tiny ring and Martinez chooses to stand in one place all night long like Chavez Jr’s last opponent Andy Lee did in his 7th round TKO loss last month in El Paso, Texas. Lee, with his scrawny legs, wasn’t able to maneuver around the small ring to try and box Chavez Jr. from the outside. Lee couldn’t handle the pressure nor the inside fighting ability of Chavez Jr. After the fight, Lee pointed to Chavez Jr’s size as the factor that led to him losing to him. He said Chavez Jr. was a really big fighter and he couldn’t handle the size difference.

Martinez is less affected by facing a big fighter like Chavez Jr. because he moves well, and won’t be making rookie mistakes like the unproven Lee did by retreating to the ropes. If you look at all of Martinez’s fights, you’ll never see him fighting with his back against the ropes like Lee was doing against Chavez Jr. because Martinez is well aware of what happens when you try and fight with your back against the ropes.

Chavez Jr’s best moments in the Lee fight came when Lee allowed himself to be backed to the ropes. Chavez Jr. won’t have the same success against Martinez because he’ll be a moving target and will play hit and run all night long. Martinez has the much better hand speed and power compared to Chavez Jr, and I see Martinez doing a lot of damage to the Mexican with this kind of game plan.