WARD V. MARTINEZ - possible at catch-weight

[shza]

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet. Both guys say they are up for it, though Martinez says "at a catchweight."

Martinez wants to fight Ward, and vice versa | RingTV

I'm as big a Sergio fan as any but, frankly, Ward is just too big for him regardless of the weight the day before the fight. Ward was a light heavyweight in the Olympics and now fights at 168. Sergio started his career at welterweight and spent the majority of it at light middleweight. Ward legitimately walks around at 185 and weighs in the night of the fight at 180. I actually believe Sergio is a small middleweight (much like Cotto is a small junior middleweight). Sergio is an "in betweener" between junior middleweight and middleweight. Add to it that Ward is as fast as Sergio or at least around as fast; Sergio goes into this fight without any advantages over Ward except maybe punching power, and we don't even know if Sergio can carry that up with him. It's just too big of a hill to climb. Of course, I would give Sergio the utmost credit even if he fought Ward and lost. Plus Ward has big fights all around him at his weight.

I agree with all that but even with these disadvantages, Martinez would still easily be the biggest challenge Ward has had. Probably a bigger challenge than Bute -- the jury's still out on that, I guess (similar styles, actually, with Bute bigger and more powerful and Martinez faster and with better reflexes/"defense").

The only guy I might pick to beat Ward is Chad Dawson (I might pick Hopkins too but that fight's not going to happen, per Hopkins), but I'd like to see how Chad looks whenever he finally gets back in the ring.

[Rantcatrat]

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet. Both guys say they are up for it, though Martinez says "at a catchweight."

Martinez wants to fight Ward, and vice versa | RingTV

I'm as big a Sergio fan as any but, frankly, Ward is just too big for him regardless of the weight the day before the fight. Ward was a light heavyweight in the Olympics and now fights at 168. Sergio started his career at welterweight and spent the majority of it at light middleweight. Ward legitimately walks around at 185 and weighs in the night of the fight at 180. I actually believe Sergio is a small middleweight (much like Cotto is a small junior middleweight). Sergio is an "in betweener" between junior middleweight and middleweight. Add to it that Ward is as fast as Sergio or at least around as fast; Sergio goes into this fight without any advantages over Ward except maybe punching power, and we don't even know if Sergio can carry that up with him. It's just too big of a hill to climb. Of course, I would give Sergio the utmost credit even if he fought Ward and lost. Plus Ward has big fights all around him at his weight.

I agree with all that but even with these disadvantages, Martinez would still easily be the biggest challenge Ward has had. Probably a bigger challenge than Bute -- the jury's still out on that, I guess (similar styles, actually, with Bute bigger and more powerful and Martinez faster and with better reflexes/"defense").

The only guy I might pick to beat Ward is Chad Dawson (I might pick Hopkins too but that fight's not going to happen, per Hopkins), but I'd like to see how Chad looks whenever he finally gets back in the ring.

Don't get me wrong - it's still a very intriguing fight. I simply doubt it would be very competitive. Ward is too smart in the ring and would know how to impose his size advantages.

Jury is out on how good Bute really is and how much of a challenge he would be to Ward. All we know is that he has looked good against common opponents. We'll know more after he faces Froch. If he wins impressively then Ward and Bute need to get it on. Dirrell didn't perform well against Froch, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't against Ward necessarily. So, I believe Dirrell and Bute are good fights for Ward at 168. At 175, there are a few different fights for Ward. The advantage Ward has in his strength at 168 might not be there as much at 175. Cloud, Dawson, Hopkins, even Pascal are interesting fights at 175.

I don't understand Bernard Hopkins stating he wouldn't face Ward. Did he train Ward or something?

[Manos de Piedra]

Would be a good fight but Ward takes a wide UD, 10 - 2 Ward. Ward size would be a big factor and his style would be very difficult for Martinez to deal with. I'm not too fond of catchweights though but we'll see what happens.

[Rantcatrat]

Would be a good fight but Ward takes a wide UD, 10 - 2 Ward. Ward size would be a big factor and his style would be very difficult for Martinez to deal with. I'm not too fond of catchweights though but we'll see what happens.

If Martinez wanted to face a super middleweight, Ward shouldn't be his first foray. He should face someone that he can outspeed first like Carl Froch, Come in at 162 and move around a lot. He should emulate Sugar Ray Robinson in his fight against Joey Maxim.

[Manos de Piedra]

Would be a good fight but Ward takes a wide UD, 10 - 2 Ward. Ward size would be a big factor and his style would be very difficult for Martinez to deal with. I'm not too fond of catchweights though but we'll see what happens.

If Martinez wanted to face a super middleweight, Ward shouldn't be his first foray. He should face someone that he can outspeed first like Carl Froch, Come in at 162 and move around a lot. He should emulate Sugar Ray Robinson in his fight against Joey Maxim.

Speed would be his biggest advantage over the bigger guys but I don't see him beating guys like Ward, Bute or even Carl Froch.

[shza]

Would be a good fight but Ward takes a wide UD, 10 - 2 Ward. Ward size would be a big factor and his style would be very difficult for Martinez to deal with. I'm not too fond of catchweights though but we'll see what happens.

If Martinez wanted to face a super middleweight, Ward shouldn't be his first foray. He should face someone that he can outspeed first like Carl Froch, Come in at 162 and move around a lot. He should emulate Sugar Ray Robinson in his fight against Joey Maxim.

Speed would be his biggest advantage over the bigger guys but I don't see him beating guys like Ward, Bute or even Carl Froch.

Really? I'd absolutely pick him to beat Carl Froch. Wide UD. Other than height and reach, what advantages does Froch possibly have?

Too early for me to pick a head-to-head winner between Bute and Martinez but I've definitely seen nothing to make me think it's an obvious call for Bute.

[captainanddew]

horrible idea for Martinez. It was stated by his team some time last year that he ate pretty normal up to fight day and was still weighing only 165 pounds when he walked into the ring(which is actually normal for a 154 pound fighter, not 160 pound fighters).

Ward would have at least 10 pounds on Martinez when they got into the ring.

[Manos de Piedra]

Would be a good fight but Ward takes a wide UD, 10 - 2 Ward. Ward size would be a big factor and his style would be very difficult for Martinez to deal with. I'm not too fond of catchweights though but we'll see what happens.

If Martinez wanted to face a super middleweight, Ward shouldn't be his first foray. He should face someone that he can outspeed first like Carl Froch, Come in at 162 and move around a lot. He should emulate Sugar Ray Robinson in his fight against Joey Maxim.

Speed would be his biggest advantage over the bigger guys but I don't see him beating guys like Ward, Bute or even Carl Froch.

Really? I'd absolutely pick him to beat Carl Froch. Wide UD. Other than height and reach, what advantages does Froch possibly have?

Too early for me to pick a head-to-head winner between Bute and Martinez but I've definitely seen nothing to make me think it's an obvious call for Bute.

I haven't seen anything from Martinez that has him ranked so high in the p4p pound rankings apart from the Williams KO, that isn't his fault he can't get fights but I think the bigger guys would be too much for him. If the MW division wasn't so rubbish then Martinez wouldn't consider going up to SMW he would still be at 154, which he can still comfortably make in my opinion. But credit to Martinez for being willing to take any fight.

[shza]

I don't understand Bernard Hopkins stating he wouldn't face Ward. Did he train Ward or something?

He has apparently been a long-time mentor to Ward and views him as his protege. Lem's latest: Hopkins won't fight Ward, eyes Bute | RingTV