Txutxi del Valle, the head trainer of former EBU welterweight champion Kerman Lejarraga, is embracing the potential fight with former two division world champion Sergio Martinez - but he doesn't want his boxer to make a dramatic jump in weight.
As BoxingScene.com reported last week, 45-year-old Martinez is highly motivated to have a comeback fight and named Lejarraga as the opponent of choice. Martinez was planning to come back in the first half of the year, but those plans went up in smoke due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Martinez would like to fight Lejarraga on a date between December and February 2021 - and is interested in staging the event in a big venue in Argentina or Spain.
Lejarraga had only recently moved up to the junior middleweight division, and suffering two knockout losses at welterweight to David Avanesyan.
He plans to have another fight before a potential clash with Martinez.
Del Valle wants his fighter fully prepared when he meets someone with the experience level of Martinez, who last saw action in 2014 when he was stopped by Miguel Cotto.
"The phone has not stopped since the topic came up [of a potential fight with Martinez]. I have spoken with the manager of 'Maravilla', Miguel de Pablos, and the truth is that we have exceeded our expectations. The idea was considered to have the fight in Madrid, it was discussed during our contact with them and the possibility is there. But a lot of fights are discussed and then do not come to pass. Sergio Martínez knows that beating Kerman would generate money and have a great impact," De Valle told Gonzalo Rodriguez Ruiz.
"First Kerman is going to box with a former champion from England, but there is no date yet. Maybe in Aste Nagusia or in October-November. So with Sergio it would go to 2021, but there is nothing concrete on that today. The first thing is the fight in [the fall], and if Sergio comes forward, we'll go for him. People want confrontations between top-level boxers. We would have to speak with the president, Aitor Elizegi, so that there would be no game in San Mamés that weekend, [so we can do a Martinez fight].
"Kerman is a super welterweight, but he is not a middleweight, ... I am in not favor of him going up much more than that, and even more so for big fights. Kerman likes challenges, he is a warrior, for him he would even fight with Canelo or Golovkin. We will see after the next fight if the Martinez bout can happen, but we don't want the fans to be hopeful and then angry if it doesn't happen.
"Kerman has to be fighting for the big titles now, we are not afraid of anyone. You already saw Bradley Skeete when they said he was going to destroy Kerman; I think we will keep our mouths shut and Kerman Lejarraga will be champion of Europe again."