New York, NY - It has been exactly two months since Middleweight kingpin Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez defended his crown against Matthew Macklin on St. Patrick's Day, scoring a thrilling 11th-round TKO over the Irishman before a raucous sold-out crowd at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in easily one of the most entertaining fights shown live on HBO in 2012.  Martinez now awaits the upcoming WBC Middleweight Championship bout between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andy Lee, which will take place on June 16, in Laredo, TX, to see who he will face next.  While he waits, Martinez has kept himself extremely busy, especially in his native country of Argentina, where his popularity continues to soar to super stardom levels.  Most recently, Martinez was asked to participate in the upcoming season of Bailando por un Sueño, which is Argentina's version of "Dancing with the Stars" and considered the most popular television program in the entire country. Last year, Mike Tyson was one of the contestants on the show.

When Martinez was recently interviewed by renowned television host Alejandro Fantino on "Animales Sueltos," the show received a monster 6.7 rating.  Martinez discussed a number of topics during the roughly 40-minute long interview (to watch the video, click here).

Next up for the charismatic Martinez was an appearance on the stand-up comedy show, Duro de Domar, hosted by Daniel Tognetti. (Click here to view Sergio's stand-up performance).  Martinez showed a side of himself with which not many outside of his inner circle are familiar.  From the reaction of performance though, you can be assured that it will not be the last time anyone has seen "Maravilla" the comedian.

Martinez was also recently named an honorary member of Arengtina's premier soccer club River Plate (to watch video Click Here). The stadium in which River Plate plays is commonly referred to as El Monumental and is considered to be the national stadium of Argentina.  Political officials from Argentina have expressed serious interest in staging one of Martinez' future fights in the stadium.

"Its very humbling to be appreciated by my fellow countrymen and to be recognized after so many hard years of hard work and dedicating myself to the sport of boxing," said Martinez. "Hopefully with my new found fame I can continue to bring awareness to those in need and the less fortunate."

"Five years ago I knew that I had found something very special," said Sampson Lewkowicz, advisor of Martinez. "I knew that I had an exciting new fighter for HBO and a fighter that could make sound waves throughout the boxing industry. Sergio has become the superstar that I knew he would, and the magnitude of the response during his welcome home tour proves that. Sergio is not only hands down the most popular fighter, but one of the most well-known and recognizable sport figures in the entire country of Argentina."

"With his recent performances in and out of the ring, Sergio is quickly becoming a phenomenon in Argentina," said promoter Lou DiBella. "As more and more people get to know him, his popularity will continue to spread not just in his home country of Argentina and his adopted home of the U.S. but begin reaching worldwide magnitude."

Adonis 'Superman' Stevenson ready to Conquer super middleweight division

MONTREAL -- Based on his last five fights, sensational super middleweight Adonis Stevenson (18-1, 15 KOs) is more than living-up to his nickname, "Superman."

Stevenson and his promoter, Yvon Michel, as well as his Hall of Fame manager/trainer, Emanuel Steward, believe he's ready to fight any of the 168-pound world champions or top contenders.

Stevenson's last five fight fights been against opponents who had had a combined professional record of 107-8 prior to stepping in the ring to fight "Superman"  - 28-1 Noe Gonzalez (TKO2), 27-1 Jesus Gonzales, 16-3 Aaron Pryor, Jr. (TKO9), 11-1 Shujaa El-Amin (TKO1) and Derek Edwards (KO3). All but Gonzales (only once) had never been knocked out before fighting "Superman."

Stevenson's display case has collapsed from the added weight of all his stored title belts: (reigning) WBC Silver, IBF Inter-Continental, NABA, NABO, plus WBC International, WBC Continental Americas, and Canadian straps Adonis formerly held.

All he's missing now is a world title belt, something he hopes to acquire this year, given a legitimate shot to challenge.  "Superman" is qualified to fight any of the world super middleweight champions as a world-rated contender in each of the four major governing bodies:  #2 IBF, #3 WBC, #7 WBA & WBO.

The dream match for the Haitian-born Stevenson, who lives in the Montreal of Longueuill, is, of course, a showdown in Montreal with IBF champion Lucian Bute. But he's making a title defense May 26 against Carl Froch.  WBA Super and WBC champion Andre Ward is practically locked into a fight with WBC light heavyweight title-holder Chad Dawson, likely in September.

"My goal is to become world champion," Stevenson said.  "I don't care who I fight for the world title - (Lucian) Bute, (Andre) Ward or any world champion.  I want to prove that I'm the best super middleweight in the world. I have the best trainer in the world, Manny Steward, and he's trained me to be much more than just a big puncher.  I've improved a lot since I've been with him and I'm using my speed and movement to become more of a complete fighter. If none of the world champions are willing to fight me, I'll continue improving, fighting top 10 opponents, hopefully in a title eliminator, until I become a mandatory challenger."

WBO and WBA (regular) champions Robert Stieglitz and Akardy Balzsay, respectively, seem to only fight hand-picked opponents and are reluctant to fight out their comfort zones in Germany.

"Adonis Stevenson has proven that he's one of the best super middleweights in the world," Michel added.  "He's better than ever since he teamed up with Manny.  We know that he's ready for anybody and is the most deserving contender.  If the WBC is seeking a replace for injured No. 1 rated Anthony Dirrell, 'Superman' is ready to fight in a title eliminator against anybody.  It's only matter of time before 'Superman' adds a world title to his belt collection."

For more information about Stevenson or any of the GYM fighters and upcoming shows, go online to www.groupeyvonmichel.ca .

BOXING NEWS READERS VOTE TO WATCH HAYE-CHISORA

Readers of trade magazine Boxing News voted overwhelmingly in favour of watching David Haye's showdown with Dereck Chisora.

The poll, in today's edition (May 17), revealed that 75 per cent of readers would watch boxing's biggest grudge fight in recent history set for West Ham United's Boleyn Ground on Saturday 14th July.

Another poll this week on the Daily Mail website said that 71 per cent of readers would buy a ticket or watch the fight on BoxNation.

The fight will be screened live and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky Ch. 456/Virgin Ch. 546).