By Robert Elmore: Sergio Martinez is on his way out the door and is simply looking for the big fights and the pay days that goes with it. He is currently recovering from surgery but wants to return to the ring in the first quarter of 2014. He recently has expressed to fight the winner of the Floyd Mayweather/ Saul Alvarez fight.
I don’t have a problem with him wanting to fight either of these two because they bring money to the table, especially Floyd. The outcome of this mega fight will present Sergio with a few options and put the winner in the driver’s for negotiations should Floyd or Saul wins the fight. If Floyd wins, I see him returning to the welterweight division and finishing his career there.
There is nobody else in the 154 weight class that is a draw financially or fan wise. This would mean Sergio would have to shrink himself to 147 pounds. Should Alvarez win, Alvarez could tell Sergio that he has to come down in weight if he wants the fight.
While I believe he can make 154, it would be an uncomfortable situation for him given his age and health. I could be wrong though. The Alvarez fight is more of a reality because Alvarez is a light heavyweight fighting in a junior middleweight body. He could make 160 with no problem. But what gets me is Lou Dibella, Sergio’s promoter, said Martinez first fight back won’t be against WBA middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin sighting health reason and a yearlong lay off for Sergio.
That was on June 30th of this year. A day later, Sergio, via his promoter, said he won’t avoid a fight with Gennady. What I’m having a hard time understanding is Sergio doesn’t mind fighting the likes of a Floyd or Saul after a yearlong lay off in his first fight back, but has a problem with fighting Gennady his first fight back?
Sergio may have two or three good fights left. From a business standpoint, I can’t blame Team Martinez for wanting to cash out. He has two fights left with HBO and that could possibly be a road block unless he fights twice this year. As I stated earlier, Floyd might be back at 147 for good by this time. But the demand for Gennady/Martinez fight is gaining momentum and HBO might put the squeeze on Dibella for that fight to happen.
The thing that Sergio has going against him, is that he is not on the A side of anything except with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. because of his victory last year. He’s not a pay per view fighter. If he were to fight Gennady, it would be on regular HBO. The division is ripe with young hungry lions. Why not serve them noticed who the real middleweight king is? If I were Floyd or Saul, pending the outcome of their fight, I would tell Sergio “Go fight Gennady. If you win then we’ll talk”.
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