By Robert Elmore: Sergio Martinez has continuously called out Floyd Mayweather as if he owes him a fight. Lou Dibella, Martinez’s promoter, continues to say they are willing to drop down to 154 pounds to fight Money May, but refuses to move up to the super middle weight division. I don’t have a problem with this move.
But his reasoning is where I draw the line. He says the super middleweights out weight him by twenty of thirty pounds. Yet he desperately wants to fight Julio Cesar Chavez who in his last fight came into the ring at 180 pounds. Even if Martinez fought Floyd at 154, he certainly would come into the ring 12 to 15 pounds heavier than Floyd. Maybe even more. But let’s be real. Sergio is 37 years old is looking for a big pay day. If this was strictly about legacy, he would put on a little weight and start calling out the likes Lucian Bute, Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell. But this just goes to show how relevant Mayweather is when you have middleweight calling out a welter weight for a fight.
But somehow people have found a way to turn the tables on Floyd if doesn’t take the fight. I know he said he was interested in fighting Sergio, but interest doesn’t mean the fight is going to be made. Floyd doesn’t owe Martinez anything. In my opinion, no one can blame Floyd because Sergio’s team has made moves that probably have cost them money or the attention they want.
Sergio refused to fight mandatory challenger Sebastian Zbik. HBO refused to televise the bout which lead to Martinez/Sergiy Dzinziruk fight. This move lead WBC president Jose Suliaman to strip Sergio of his title. In my opinion, all Martinez had to do was fight Zbik, regardless of it being televised or not, and win. Now guess what? He still has his belt, Chavez chases him for a title shot, and now he can be in the driver’s seat when it comes to negotiations, and covers his entire basis concerning the rules of the WBC.
Had Dibella been paying attention to Bob Arum, he would have saw that he is the king when it comes to lining up his fighters for vacant titles. Chavez was not going to fight WBA champ Felix Strum or IBF champ Daniel Geale. Martinez vacated, Chavez capitalized, end of story. But on top of all of this, Sergio doesn’t bring anything to table financially. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez does. All of Mexico would get behind this kid and a fight against Floyd would be a huge success. Martinez needs to just stop wasting time and move up.
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