With regard to HBO, if you are at the top, and not named Pacquiao or Chavez Jr., they give you a hard time. It's just the way the cookie crumbles. Larry Merchant asked the same type of questions to Mayweather, but he doesn't do it with Chavez Jr. or Pacquiao.
My problem with Sergio Martinez is that he gives himself too small a margin of error. It's a pattern in his fights that he ends them late: Pavlik (UD), Macklin (Round 11), Barker (Round 12), Dzinziruk (round
. The reason it may take him a while to open up is because at 160, he is forced to fight a safer fight than he would at 154. Indeed, he was able to get Dzinziruk out earlier than the rest because Dzinziruk is a natural junior middleweight too. I understand that he is a counter puncher and it takes him a little while to figure his opponents' patterns out. However, he's going to run into someone that turns it on at the end of fights like he does.
Even at 37, he is a junior middleweight at heart. This is the third fight in row that he weighed in at 157, and allegedly this is while eating a healthy amount during the week of the fight.
The criticism on Sergio Martinez is somewhat unfounded for the following reasons. First, he doesn't just get the W, he knocks out his opponents; real knockouts, not like when Floyd Mayweather knocked out Victor Ortiz. What more should be expected of him? Vitali Klischko, age 40, usually only knocks out his opponents at the end of fights too, if he does at all. Bernard Hopkins, age 47, never knocks out his opponents. Second, his fights are fun to watch with the exception of the Barker fight. Saturday's fight had ebbs and flows with the challenger looking great at times. Sergio made adjustments and eventually won. Same with the Pavlik fight, where he was the underdog, the Dzinziruk fight, and the Williams' fights. Third, he's exemplary outside of the ring. He's taken a strong stance against domestic violence against women. He maintains a high level of fitness all year round. It's odd that HBO has taken to him more.
Where does he go from here?
The junior middleweights? Sergio Martinez would dominate Miguel Cotto, James Kirkland, or Saul Alvarez. Not that they would fight him, of course. Miguel Cotto already ducked him. Saul Alvarez is fighting Shane Mosley next and is too young for Sergio to be fair. James Kirkland would be fun, but Golden Boy won't put him in with Sergio. However, all those fights would be fun to watch. He would struggle against Mayweather, and it wouldn't be fun to watch. It would be fun to watch, of course for boxing afficianados, but the feinting and counter punching wouldn't make it action-packed.
The middleweights? Chavez Jr. would be a good fight. Chavez Jr. would have a huge size advantage and Chavez Jr. doesn't lose form at the end of fights. Geale would be a good fight too. Same goes for Andy Lee or Felix Sturm, but Sturm has stated publicly he doesn't want to fight Sergio Martinez. I actually like Chavez Jr and Sturm (if he it could happen) as his next opponents. Lee's not a bad opponent either. I'm not mentioning Pirog because he's completely MIA, rarely fights. Golovkin hasn't even fought on HBO yet if I'm not mistaken, so it's not realistic.
Where should he be ranked P4P?
In my estimation, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are unquestionably above Sergio Martinez p4p. After them, there's a noticable drop off, and it's tough to figure out the next four spots. Donaire struggled somewhat against Vasquez Jr., an opponent comparable to Macklin in quality, but Donaire couldn't do what Sergio did, and finish Vasquez Jr. off. My intrigue with Donaire somewhat leveled off after that last opponent. That Donaire is now taking a step backward in competition, after all the big talk of facing the best at 122 and even 126, after that last performance only solidified that view. Ward beat Froch and Kessler. He hasn't moved up in weight class though and he hasn't beat the next best in his division (Bute), not the be all and end all, but it affects his placement. Juan Manuel Marquez is a clear future hall of famer. Yet, he struggled against Juan Diaz and Michael Kastidis, and lost to Mayweather and Pacquiao. Wladmir has done everything asked of him too as has Vitali, but the quality of their opposition hasn't been anything to write home about.
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