By Lem Satterfield
It's no surprise that a dream fight, between Lucian Bute and Sergio Martinez, is on hold until further notice. As reported on BoxingScene.com last week, the network ties of both boxers would likely prevent a possible showdown from happening until a much later date in the future.
Bute, the IBF champion at super middleweight, is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and he generates a lot of money in Canada. But, he recently signed an exclusive three-fight contract with Showtime. While there is no binding agreement in place, Martinez and promoter Lou DiBella are very loyal to rival network HBO.
DiBella is not ready to send Martinez to a higher weight division. Even if Martinez received a huge offer to face Bute, the fight couldn't happen because of Bute's exclusive contract with Showtime, says DiBella.
"We'll fight anybody, but Sergio is not yet a 168-pounder. Bute is the big guy who generates the big money at 168 pounds, but frankly, Bute has got a three-fight deal with Showtime, and we're sticking with the people [HBO] who helped us to get where we are," said DiBella.
"So we can't fight Bute on Showtime, and, with respect to being a 168-pounder, if he has an unbelievable opportunity, Sergio would consider fighting King Kong. But this is a guy who was really a 154-pounder who moved up to 160 out of necessity and grew himself into being a middleweight. Sergio will fight anybody, so don't ask him. I ain't going to let him do it."
Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.