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“I never said hey Mayweather, hey Pacquiao, come up to 160 pounds. I never said that! I’m hoping to do a catch weight. The lowest I can make is 154 pounds.”
JENNA J: Let’s move to our fourth and final guest of this week’s show, one that I’m proud to have return to our program. He is the reigning middleweight champion of the world. We are joined by Sergio Martinez.
SERGIO MARTINEZ: Hello! How are you guys doing? This is Sergio!
JENNA: I’m doing very well Sergio. Well you have a title defense coming up on October 1 against Darren Barker, an undefeated fighter from the UK. Can you tell us a little bit more about your opponent?
MARTINEZ: Every English fighter I ever fought, and he’s a very typical of British fighters, they’re tough fighters! They come to fight and I know he’s definitely going to come and try to keep that undefeated record. I’ll definitely be ready to go.
JENNA: Alright now the fact that Barker is undefeated but relatively unknown kind of makes this a no-lose scenario for him. Does that make him a dangerous opponent for you?
MARTINEZ: Yeah you know he is going to be the same rival Dzinziruk. I mean nobody knew Dzinziruk, and as you can see that was a very tough fight for me. I believe that will be the same case for this fight.
JENNA: Okay now Sergio, this opponent was chosen because others would not meet you in the ring, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Junior. How disappointing is it for you to not get those marquee names?
MARTINEZ: It’s a shame. A European champion needs to come to the States and challenge me, and it’s only the boxing fans and the American fans who are losing on that, but these fights need to be made.
JENNA: Now Sergio, what do you think it’s going to take for you to get those marquee names to want to fight you?
MARTINEZ: I need to continue doing what I’m doing. I need to keep fighting and I need to keep fighting the best and in due time, these rivals have to fight me! There will be a point where they’re going to have to fight me. I want to be the guy that I want them to come and try to beat. So it’s all a matter of time.
JENNA: Great! Well Sergio, we’re also on the line with my Co-Host Geoff Ciani.
MARTINEZ: It’s my pleasure to be on your show. Thank you very much.
CIANI: Thank you. Now you mentioned that you think it will happen eventually in time, but do you think that either Pacquiao or Mayweather would be willing to fight you before they first fought each other so that they don’t risk that payday that’s been looming for them for so long?
MARTINEZ: You know I got to keep hope alive. I hope they fight me first. I don’t know, but with wishful thinking I am hoping they choose to fight me first.
CIANI: Now one of the criticisms that you’ve been receiving from fans on the message boards, is I see a lot of people saying that since you expect Pacquiao and Mayweather to move up and fight you that you should be equally willing to step up to 168 to fight some of the better guys up there. I’m just curious what do you think of these views from certain fans?
MARTINEZ: No, I mean just to keep it clear I never said to Pacquiao or Mayweather to come up to my weight at 160 pounds. No! I never said that! What I said in the past is hey, let’s make an agreement! Let’s do a catch weight or let’s fight at 154 pounds for a 154 pound title. Now fans are asking me to come up in weight. Well that would be crazy for me to go up to 168 pounds. Now if Arthur Abraham or Andre Ward want to meet me at a catch weight of 164 pounds and the money is right, I’d be willing to do that. But I never said hey Mayweather, hey Pacquiao, come up to 160 pounds. I never said that! I’m hoping to do a catch weight. The lowest I can make is 154 pounds. The highest as of right now in my career would be 164 pounds if the money is right.
CIANI: Back to your upcoming fight against Darren Barker, you’ve scored two impressive stoppage victories in your last two fights against guys who had never previously been stopped. Is that the plan going into this training camp this time? To work on scoring another knockout victory against a man who’s never been knocked out?
MARTINEZ: First of all my plan is to fight a very intelligent fight, and if the knockout comes up and the knockout’s available, then I’m definitely going to take advantage of that and knock him out.
CIANI: What do you think your biggest advantage is going into this fight?
MARTINEZ: Probably the most important advantage that I have would be the experience, and I have a great training camp and I prepare myself very well. But my experience will probably be my biggest advantage.
JENNA: Alright now Sergio, to most people’s accounts you haven’t really lost a fight since you lost to Antonio Margarito earlier in your career. For an opponent facing you, what do you think they need to do to beat you?
MARTINEZ: Well I fought a very close fight against Paul Williams. You can say hey I lost that fight or it was a draw or I won, but I think the keys to victory would be to be well prepared, to really prepare yourself and train really hard outside the ring. A lot of fighters get distracted or have a lot of different things that come up, but that would be the thing—to beat me in the gym.
JENNA: Alright well you mentioned Paul Williams for a second, and he recently had a controversial win against Erislandy Lara and he called you out after the match. Would you at all be interested in a third with him or would you be looking to have a different opponent after you fight Darren Barker?
MARTINEZ: You know everybody saw that fight and I saw the same fight and I feel the same way as everybody feels. Yes, he did lose that fight. It was very clear, and I don’t want to sound arrogant or whatever, but no I don’t think a third fight would be necessary. Talk is cheap, and he’s not at that level any more. For him to call out my name like that, he has to call out my name because he still wants to stay at that level which he is not. So I don’t think that fight would be necessary for me to fight him.
SERGIO MARTINEZ: Hello! How are you guys doing? This is Sergio!
JENNA: I’m doing very well Sergio. Well you have a title defense coming up on October 1 against Darren Barker, an undefeated fighter from the UK. Can you tell us a little bit more about your opponent?
MARTINEZ: Every English fighter I ever fought, and he’s a very typical of British fighters, they’re tough fighters! They come to fight and I know he’s definitely going to come and try to keep that undefeated record. I’ll definitely be ready to go.
JENNA: Alright now the fact that Barker is undefeated but relatively unknown kind of makes this a no-lose scenario for him. Does that make him a dangerous opponent for you?
MARTINEZ: Yeah you know he is going to be the same rival Dzinziruk. I mean nobody knew Dzinziruk, and as you can see that was a very tough fight for me. I believe that will be the same case for this fight.
JENNA: Okay now Sergio, this opponent was chosen because others would not meet you in the ring, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Junior. How disappointing is it for you to not get those marquee names?
MARTINEZ: It’s a shame. A European champion needs to come to the States and challenge me, and it’s only the boxing fans and the American fans who are losing on that, but these fights need to be made.
JENNA: Now Sergio, what do you think it’s going to take for you to get those marquee names to want to fight you?
MARTINEZ: I need to continue doing what I’m doing. I need to keep fighting and I need to keep fighting the best and in due time, these rivals have to fight me! There will be a point where they’re going to have to fight me. I want to be the guy that I want them to come and try to beat. So it’s all a matter of time.
JENNA: Great! Well Sergio, we’re also on the line with my Co-Host Geoff Ciani.
MARTINEZ: It’s my pleasure to be on your show. Thank you very much.
CIANI: Thank you. Now you mentioned that you think it will happen eventually in time, but do you think that either Pacquiao or Mayweather would be willing to fight you before they first fought each other so that they don’t risk that payday that’s been looming for them for so long?
MARTINEZ: You know I got to keep hope alive. I hope they fight me first. I don’t know, but with wishful thinking I am hoping they choose to fight me first.
CIANI: Now one of the criticisms that you’ve been receiving from fans on the message boards, is I see a lot of people saying that since you expect Pacquiao and Mayweather to move up and fight you that you should be equally willing to step up to 168 to fight some of the better guys up there. I’m just curious what do you think of these views from certain fans?
MARTINEZ: No, I mean just to keep it clear I never said to Pacquiao or Mayweather to come up to my weight at 160 pounds. No! I never said that! What I said in the past is hey, let’s make an agreement! Let’s do a catch weight or let’s fight at 154 pounds for a 154 pound title. Now fans are asking me to come up in weight. Well that would be crazy for me to go up to 168 pounds. Now if Arthur Abraham or Andre Ward want to meet me at a catch weight of 164 pounds and the money is right, I’d be willing to do that. But I never said hey Mayweather, hey Pacquiao, come up to 160 pounds. I never said that! I’m hoping to do a catch weight. The lowest I can make is 154 pounds. The highest as of right now in my career would be 164 pounds if the money is right.
CIANI: Back to your upcoming fight against Darren Barker, you’ve scored two impressive stoppage victories in your last two fights against guys who had never previously been stopped. Is that the plan going into this training camp this time? To work on scoring another knockout victory against a man who’s never been knocked out?
MARTINEZ: First of all my plan is to fight a very intelligent fight, and if the knockout comes up and the knockout’s available, then I’m definitely going to take advantage of that and knock him out.
CIANI: What do you think your biggest advantage is going into this fight?
MARTINEZ: Probably the most important advantage that I have would be the experience, and I have a great training camp and I prepare myself very well. But my experience will probably be my biggest advantage.
JENNA: Alright now Sergio, to most people’s accounts you haven’t really lost a fight since you lost to Antonio Margarito earlier in your career. For an opponent facing you, what do you think they need to do to beat you?
MARTINEZ: Well I fought a very close fight against Paul Williams. You can say hey I lost that fight or it was a draw or I won, but I think the keys to victory would be to be well prepared, to really prepare yourself and train really hard outside the ring. A lot of fighters get distracted or have a lot of different things that come up, but that would be the thing—to beat me in the gym.
JENNA: Alright well you mentioned Paul Williams for a second, and he recently had a controversial win against Erislandy Lara and he called you out after the match. Would you at all be interested in a third with him or would you be looking to have a different opponent after you fight Darren Barker?
MARTINEZ: You know everybody saw that fight and I saw the same fight and I feel the same way as everybody feels. Yes, he did lose that fight. It was very clear, and I don’t want to sound arrogant or whatever, but no I don’t think a third fight would be necessary. Talk is cheap, and he’s not at that level any more. For him to call out my name like that, he has to call out my name because he still wants to stay at that level which he is not. So I don’t think that fight would be necessary for me to fight him.
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