By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) hit on the age button when he went into a rant during Saturday’s HBO special Chavez J4-Martinez 24/7 to hype his upcoming September 15th fight against 37-year-old Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chavez Jr. said “No one loves you. The Argentinians don’t. The Spanish don’t. I’m going to beat you. They all want me to win. You’re old already. 37-years-old. You’re finished. You’re a boxer. Have some respect for the sport.”

Much of Chavez Jr’s rant made him look rather childish, especially the part about no one loving Martinez. It was a weird way of trying to get to Martinez. It was something you’d see from someone a lot younger than Chavez Jr, and it looked out of place for him to be using that kind of attack to get at him.

Martinez is getting up there in age, there’s no doubt about that. However, he’s still fighting at an extremely high level, and still very fast. He’s not like a normal 37-year-old. Martinez seems to be one of those guys that can still fight at a high level even as he ages. He’s clearly much faster than Chavez Jr despite being 11 years older and nearing 40. Martinez is faster on his feet as well, and he’s a harder puncher.

To be sure, Martinez is 37, but he’s still superior to Chavez Jr. in almost every department you can imagine except for weight and inside fighting ability. Martinez is never going to be someone that rehydrates back up to 180 lbs when he fights, and he’ll also never be an inside fighter. But he doesn’t need to fight in close, because he’s got such good wheels working for him.

If Martinez was a plodder like Chavez Jr’s last two opponents Marco Antonio Rubio and Andy Lee, then Martinez would need to be a good inside fighter because he wouldn’t be in a good position to keep the 180 pound Chavez Jr. from forcing him to fight that kind of fight. But Martinez DOES move well on his feet, and that takes away Chavez Jr’s inside game completely.

All the skills that Chavez Jr. has on the inside will be useless for the most part unless Martinez chooses to him that way. He won’t. He’ll fight the way he always does by hitting and moving. Chavez Jr. doesn’t have the stamina or the legs to move around the ring for long without tiring, so he won’t be able to adapt to Martinez’s fighting style. Chavez Jr. can move for a little while, but not for long without gassing out.