Sergio Martinez: Pacquiao is a Fake Pound for Pound King
http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=47531#ixzz1h2yMolOW
By Chris Robinson
While lineal middleweight champion Sergio Martinez had a 2011 campaign that was definitely successful, with two HBO-televised victories over opponents with a combined 60-0 (37) record, it goes without saying that it didn’t quite stack up to his marvelous 2010 run.
In that year Martinez would pull of an upset over Kelly Pavlik in April as he rallied late in the fight after being knocked down midway and followed that up seven months later with a chilling, second-round knockout over Paul Williams in Atlantic City. Those two outings led Martinez to collect Fighter of the Year honors and bigger things seemed to be just around the corner for him.
This year Martinez waxed then-undefeated junior middleweight title holder Sergiy Dzinziruk in March, stopping the Ukrainian in eight rounds after scoring five knockdowns, and then got off to a slower-than-expected start against London's Darren Barker in October before picking up his work rate on his way to an eleventh-round TKO.
Comparing his glorious 2010 to his conquests this past year, Martinez put things into perspective.
“Really, Pavlik and Williams were the best fighters, however Sergiy was probably better than either one,” Martinez said as he spoke at 49th annual WBC Convention at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas this week. “But he doesn’t have the name so sometimes the fans don’t understand the quality of the fighters. Sergiy was a great, great fighter.”
At 36 years of age, Martinez is eyeing all immediate options for his career. He seems set for a March 17th return, likely against Matthew Macklin, but surely anything less than a pay-per-view level attraction afterwards might seem like a disappointment.
Undefeated superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. is lined up for a May 5th return to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Martinez would love nothing more than to meet up with him in his following fight.
“I wish him good luck on May 5th with whoever he fights, however, I have hope that I can fight him by the end of the year,” Martinez said. “There’s definitely not many big opponents out there that he can fight.”
Martinez was inexplicably stripped of the WBC belt he won from Pavlik earlier this year and months later he saw the title shift hands to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. when the Mexican star pulled out a close decision over Germany’s Sebastian Zbik at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
During this week’s convention, WBC president Jose Sulaiman announced that Chavez would be ordered to defend his belt against Martinez next or face the reality that he would be stripped if he chooses otherwise.
It’s a fight that Martinez has long been seeking but feels Chavez’s co-promoter will stray him away from the challenge.
“Bob Arum will try and he will do anything possible to save Chavez,” said Martinez. “I feel very good but I know it will be very hard to fight Chavez. But I’m happy to receive back his belt.”
Martinez has shown interest in a catch-weight clash with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, who last month was seen struggling to a majority-decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in their third encounter.
Giving his take on that fight, Martinez feels the wrong man was awarded and took a few barbs at Pacquiao.
“I saw what everybody saw, that Pacquiao lost,” Martinez claimed. “The real pound for pound is Top Rank. They create a figure that doesn’t exist. Pacquiao is not the pound for pound. Pacquiao is a fake.
“When has he fought a real fighter besides Marquez? And when he fought a real fighter, you see what happened with Marquez. With that in mind, he’s a fake number-one, pound for pound.”
Bold stuff from Martinez, who has always seemed to openly criticize Pacquiao in some form during his interactions with the media.
One last fight popped in my head before our conversation wrapped up, as I was curious if Martinez had seen Miguel Cotto’s recent victory over Antonio Margarito, as he scored a 10th round TKO victory after busting up the Tijuana fighter’s right eye in their rematch at Madison Square Garden on December 3rd.
“I saw a good Cotto and then Margarito came back,” said Martinez of the fight. “It was a good stoppage for the eyes.”
Asked if was impressed at all my Cotto, the WBA junior middleweight champion who many have looked at as a fitting opponent for him, Martinez was completely dismissive.
“No, I will beat him by knockout.”
