By Jim Dower: Eddie Hearn will be the promoter for the Sergio Martinez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on November 17, and he plans on streaming the fight on DAZN in the United States. This fight will likely be a circus level match similar to the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor fight.
The winner of the Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez fight isn’t going anywhere in the sport. This is just a flashback fight or you can call it an old timer’s fight between two fighters from a past era.
It’s going to require a lot of the longtime boxing fans from years ago to make the Martinez vs. Chavez Jr. 2 fight a success. Chavez Jr’s rep took a serious hit with his last fight against Saul Canelo Alvarez in 2017. The weigh for the fight is expected to be 168 pounds, which is good news for Chavez Jr. but not such a good thing for Martinez, who started his career out at 154.
The Martinez-Chavez Jr. 2 venue hasn’t been decided yet, but it could take place in either Las Vegas or Texas, according to RingTV.
Hearn might not realize that there aren’t a lot of U.S fans calling for the Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez rematch anymore. Five years ago, yeah, there were a lot of fans that wanted to see Chavez Jr. and Martinez do it again, but that’s no longer the case.
Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) returns to the ring after four years in retirement. Martinez retired due to a bad right knee in 2014. Unless Martinez’s knee is now suddenly sound, his fight with Chavez Jr. might not turn out any better for him than his last match against Miguel Cotto in 2014. Martinez was stopped in the 10th round after being beaten with ease by Cotto. The limiting factor for Martinez in that fight was his right knee. He simply couldn’t fight because of his surgically repaired knee not allowing him to fight at a high level. Martinez’s knee looked wobbly and unstable. Martinez injured his knee in his fight with Chavez Jr. in 2012 in round 12.
The Matchroom Boxing USA promoter Hearn might be six years too late in making the Martinez-Chavez Jr. 2 fight, as there’s no audience for this fight, especially with it being pegged for the $10 per month DAZN subscription service. The U.S fans will obviously get more than the Martinez-Chavez Jr. fight if they subscribe to DAZN to see the fight, but a lot of the fights they’ll be offered might not interest them enough to make the service worthwhile right now. Hearn needs to still sign a lot more fighters to get the fans interested in paying each month for it.
Martinez’s surgically repaired right knee looked unstable from the very first moments in his last two fights against Miguel Cotto and Martin Murray. A lot of fans thought that Martinez’s knee would be fine for the Cotto fight in 2014, so they bought into it. But as soon as the fight started, it was clear that Martinez’s knee wasn’t sound and he wasn’t going to be able to put up a fight. It would be a black eye for boxing and for Hearn’s Matchroom/DAZN service if streams the Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez fight and it turns out to be a disaster due to Sergio’s right knee problem. It would be better for Martinez to let the fans know ahead of time if his knee is going to be a problem for him.
Martinez’s knee is supposedly close to 100 percent, according to Ringtv. Even if the knee is now functionally sound, Martinez is still 43-years-old now and coming off of a 4-year layoff from boxing. He’s not looking to take a tune-up to show the fans that he’s able to fight at a high level. Since the fans aren’t going to be able to see for themselves the status of Martinez’s by him fighting a tune-up, they’re going to have to go on faith and possibly his word that he’s 100% again. The thing is, if Martinez’s knee turns out to be just as damaged as it was in his last two fights, there’s no way the fans will be able to get their money back. Moreover, with Martinez likely going back into retirement after the Chavez Jr., he won’t be around for the fans to ignore for his future fights. This is likely a one and done thing for Martinez. The fans will have to have faith that Martinez’s knee is in good shape.
Chavez Jr. is the son of the famous Julio Cesar Chavez, one of the greatest fighters in the history of Mexican boxing. Chavez Jr. has failed to measure up to the level that his father achieved in the sport. Chavez Jr. put in an awful performance in his last fight against Saul Canelo Alvarez last year. Chavez Jr. has been siting inactive ever since that fight. He looked so bad that fight that it’s impossible to imagine him putting in a better performance against Martinez. Chavez Jr. is going to need to put in a much better performance against Martinez if he doesn’t want to embarrass himself again.