By Michael Marley
Bob Arum, promoter for newly crowned WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., gave Sergio Martinez handler Lou DiBella a verbal kick in the pants after the 25 year old “Son of the Legend” outpointed Germany’s Sebastian Zbik Saturday night at the Staples Center.
What with Martinez and adviser Sampson Lewkowicz sitting at ringside in LA and almost frothing at the mouth for a crack at Young Chavez, Arum went on the attack as to “the real middleweight champion” and his status as an attraction.
“His promoter has to go out and build Martinez,” Arum said, continuing his diatribe with me on the phone Sunday afternoon. “He’s got build Sergio up. Look, the guy KOs Paul Williams and he is real hot but then he sits around, he’s inactive except for one HBO fought against a guy whose name I cannot even pronounce (Sergei Dzinziruk).
“Now DiBella called me (to complain) but I still say this,” Arum said. “I still say that DiBella has to get off his ass and stop waiting for HBO to build Martinez up. The guy is 35 years old, you can’t wait around.
“I like Sergio. He is a very good looking kid, he can be a media attraction. He is not some faceless guy with no personality by any means. DiBella should be putting on his own shows to build Sergio up.”
SEE OUR MAN (RICK) REENO IN LAS VEGAS, ON DIBELLA ASKING WBC TO FORCE CHAVEZ TO FIGHT EMERITUS CHAMP MARTINEZ.
Now I never knew that the volatile DiBella owned a donkey, I knew he owns the minor league Richmond Flying Squirrels and an always barking dog but…
This may be Arum’s way of fogging up the mirror, of avoiding the brutal punching Argentinean and wanting to start to milk Chavez’s family name with his newly acquired green and gold belt.
When last heard from, DiBella said Martinez has an Oct. 1 HBO date with his foe, the ever not so popular TBA.
Arum said that, down the line, he would not object to a Chavez-Martinez matchup.
“Eventually, it can happen but now now,” Arum said. “But they have to build Martinez up where some people, other than the boxing writers, know who he is.”
