By Dan Ambrose: At this point Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) is considered by many boxing fans to be the hardest puncher in the middleweight division at this time. He’s not only arguably the hardest puncher at 160 lbs, but he’s also has some of the fastest hands in the division.

You couple that big power and fast hands with his southpaw stance, excellent defensive skills, and his in and out attacks, and what you have is a fighter that is very, very tough to beat.

Martinez will be fighting WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) on September 15th on HBO pay per view at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The one thing that Chavez Jr. has is great size. He’s probably the heaviest guy in the division after he rehydrates up to 180 lbs for his fights, which is 20 pounds over the 180 pound limit. Since the World Boxing Council doesn’t have a rehydration limit for some reason, Chavez Jr. is allowed to gain as much weight as he likes after he makes weight for his fights.

The other thing that Chavez Jr has going for him is a great chin that enables him to take tons of punishment in order to land his body shots. Chavez Jr. is a good body puncher, and with his huge weight advantages in his fights, he’s able to force his opponents to fight his fight on the inside by being able to walk through their shots and make them fight an inside war that few of them are ready for.

The real question for this fight is whether Chavez Jr. will be able to walk through Martinez’s shots the same way that he’s been able to do against the likes of Marco Antonio Rubio, Sebastian Zbik, Peter Manfredo Jr, and Andy Lee? Martinez is different from all of them in that he hits harder, he’s faster with his hands and his attacks, and he’s a southpaw. So everything is coming with power, speed and from an angle that Chavez Jr might not be ready for on September 15th.