By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) may be able to avoid having surgery performed on his right knee after having injured his knee in his win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on September 15th. According to ESPN, Sampson Lewkowicz, the adviser for Martinez, said that that Martinez’s knee may only need rehab rather than surgery.
Lewkowicz told Dan Rafael at ESPN “He [Martinez] needs another test or another MRI so he can decide if he needs the operation or if he can just go through treatment and rehabilitation…They will make that decision next week.”
It would be great news for Martinez if he can escape the knife because surgery could mean a long rehab period and there’s always a chance for further injuries while healing. The goal is to get Martinez back in shape as quickly as possible so that he can fight Chavez Jr. in a rematch in the first quarter of 2013 at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas. In addition to the knee not needing surgery, Chavez Jr. would have to be given a small suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission when they decide Chavez Jr’s case for his positive marijuana test from the Martinez fight.
Lewkowicz believes that Martinez and Chavez Jr. can fight in May of next year provided that Chavez Jr’s suspension isn’t a prolonged one and Martinez’s right knee is healed by then.
Martinez won’t be facing WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward like a lot of boxing fans are hoping Martinez will. Lewkowicz is ruling that fight out due to Ward’s huge size advantage over the 5’10” Martinez. What a lot of boxing fans don’t realize is that Martinez has been a junior middleweight most of his career until moving up in weight to take on WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in 2010 and beating him.
It was supposed to be just a one-fight thing for Martinez and then he would go back down in weight, because he’s small even for a middleweight. But Martinez decided to stick it out at middleweight, and he’s done very well, winning all six fights he’s taken part in since moving up to the division. However, it would be asking way too much of Martinez for him to move up yet again to super middleweight to fight Ward or to fight him at a catchweight of 164. Even with a catchweight, Ward would rehydrate and be pretty much where he usually is at super middleweight.
Martinez will need a healthy right left for him to be able to beat the hulking Chavez Jr. in a rematch. Martinez doesn’t have the size to stand in against a fighter as heavy as the 180+ pound Chavez Jr. for 12 rounds. Martinez’s mobility gave the young Chavez Jr. fits with Martinez constantly moving out of the way of Chavez Jr, and not allowing him to set his feet. Chavez Jr. was a much weaker opponent when he was forced to throw shots while on the move and he couldn’t really do much in the fight until Martinez stopped moving long enough in the 12th round for Chavez Jr. to hurt him with a hard right hand.
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