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It has now been more than a week since the man regarded many a fight fan around the world as the true King of the Middleweights, Sergio Martinez, successfully regained the WBC title from the Mexican Princling, Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr., in front of a packed Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas, taking a wide points decision.
Since that time, the fight has been discussed in bars on the strip and on the Internet and the Thomas and Mack Centre prepares for its next event.
The big question is; what’s next for Martinez and Chavez?
For the 37 year old “Maravilla”, now a two Middleweight World Champion, the initial priority would be to recover from injuries received during the effort to regain his WBC trinket as he suffered a broken left hand and a knee ligament injury before he has to make a defence of his newly returned crown.
Once Martinez recovers, he will have no end of options as the Middleweight division is starting to boil up quite nicely.
The options that Martinez and his promoter Lou DiBella have on the table for them could be a unification match up with either Gennady Golovkin, the unbeaten big hitting Kazakh who holds the WBA’s “regular” title, and who recently defeated Polish southpaw and current European Middleweight king Gregorz Proska with a fifth round stoppage.
That could provide an exciting stylistic match up of big puncher Golovkin, who has one punch knockout power and a fluid boxer puncher in Martinez, who has scored four knockouts in his last five fights.
However, Golovkin is the mandatory challenger for the same sanctioning body’s ludicrous “super” title against the newly unified champion, Daniel Geale of Australia, who recently ended the long reign of Germany’s Felix Sturm two weeks ago, which could mean an extremely mouth watering unification match with the two best Middleweights in the world.
However, the 31 year old Geale, who hails from Launceston in Australia, is reported to be undertaking an IBF mandatory defence against Sam Soliman in an all-Australian showdown or potentially fighting current British champion Martin Murray, who could also be another target for Martinez.
Murray would be yet another British fighter for Martinez to take on after defeating former British and European champions Matthew Macklin and Darren Barker in 11 rounds each to reacquaint himself with British fans after defeating Richard Williams twice, first on points and then with a ninth round stoppage, sandwiching a 12th round stoppage against Adrian Stone during 2003-2004.
Another unification option could be the winner of big hitting American star Peter Quillin’s WBO title challenge against the French based Cameroonian star Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam at the Barclays Centre in New York.
In short, there are no end of options for the 37 year old Argentine star.
In contrast, for Chavez Jnr, the lacklustre defeat is not the only problem in his tray. Reports have emerged that he reportedly failed a post fight medical test.
This means he could be facing a considerable timeout from the ring, as the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who sanctioned the fight, could inflict a significant punishment, whether it be a fine and/or suspension.
It would also serve as an opportunity for Chavez Jnr to regroup and see if he can remain a genuine competitive force at Middleweight or higher, or simply a novelty attraction because of his name.
For Martinez, the Chavez Jnr victory is an opportunity to cement his reputation as the King of the Hill.
