By Michael Marly

Whenever world middleweight king Sergio Martinez thinks of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and/or Manny Pacquiao, he thinks “jackpot.”

Which is understandable since carping critics such as yours truly, Billy Dooley, have long been saying that boxing is limping along because we are limited to two genuine superstars, Floyd and Manny, and neither one is chomping at the bit to fight the other despite a likely $100 million dollar purse bonanza.

Pacquiao keeps beating no hopers up in mismatches and the personally troubled Mayweather, with a full docket in criminal court in Las Vegas, fights no one and is in his 13th month of inactivity.

So the 36-year-old from Argentina thinks he can cash in big time with either one but most likely against “Money.”

"I want to show that I am the pound-for-pound best in the world and in order to do that, I have to fight Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather would be a better fight I think because he is physically bigger than Pacquiao and can carry the 154 pounds better than Pacquiao. With Mayweather, I think this would be the most difficult fight of my career and I see it going the distance and being judged on points, but together we would put on a good show," Martinez told John Martinez.

(The quote is purloined respectfully from Chris LaBate’s nice piece on Boxingscene.com.)

Btw, I’ve altered my tune on contemporary superstars because Ole Popkins as Joe Calzaghe called him, the estimable, 46 year old Bernard Hopkins, is all that a bag of corn chips.

The biggest bus fleet in America hasn’t taken as many people to school as light heavyweight ruler Bernard Hopkins has.

Roy Jones Jr. limps along, a completely punched ticket and a shell of his former shell. But BHop is jiving and thriving.

Which reminds me that I'm really not impressed, despite his desperate commercial reasons, by Martinez perpetually calling out two great fighters who are so much smaller than he is.

If he keeps this up, some will regard “Maravilla” as a noisy bully.

How come the name Bernard Hopkins never passes Martinez’s lips?

It’s a boxing tradition for top champions to move up in weight as when Emile Griffith, welterweight king, went up and claimed the middleweight crown or when Dick Tiger beefed up from 160 pounds to win the light heavyweight title. (There was no 168 pound super middleweight “bridge” division back then.)

So, come on Senor “Maravilla,” pick on somebody your size, although we can agree those pickings are slim.

Better yet, challenge Hopkins.

You’ve only got a one decade age advantage over BHop.

Oh, I get it, you have too much respect for your elders. Yeah, sure.

Stop the mindless palaver on fighting Floyd or menacing Manny, will you please?

You’re credibility remains high, this kind of nonsense just drags it down.

You’re a bigger man than Floyd and Manny, accept it and move on.

Time to pick on the bigger but much older man unless...unless you have a (no) grandfathers clause in your contract.