By Dan Ambrose: It looks pretty clear that WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KO’s) isn’t going to luck out and get a big money fight with a current two-division world champion Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. As such, Martinez needs to go after a unification bout against unbeaten World Boxing Organization (WBO) middleweight champion Dmitriy Pirog (17-0, 14 KO’s) as the next best thing.

Pirog, 30, may be the next middleweight star and it would be worthwhile for Martinez to take the fight with Pirog now before he becomes even bigger. Fighting Pirog can only raise Martinez’s popularity among boxing fans, as Pirog has a lot of skills and a fighting style similar in many ways to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Pirog is certainly a better option for Martinez compared to the skinny middleweight prospect Andy Lee (24-1, 18 KO’s), who has already been badly exposed by Brian Vera in a 7th round knockout loss in 2008. I can just see Martinez crushing the slender-necked Lee with the first left hand he catches him.

That’s hardly going to be an entertaining fight on HBO, and not one that’s going to increase Martinez’s cache any among fans. Martinez plans on fighting on March 12th in a fight that will be shown on HBO. He needs an opponent that can last long enough for him to show his skills.

Lee isn’t the answer. In his last bout, he destroyed Paul Williams in a 2nd round knockout in November. Before that, Martinez defeated WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and gave him a real beating in that one-sided fight.