By Rick Reeno
WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28KOs) will return to the ring on April 27th in Argentina, confirmed his adviser Sampson Lewkowicz to BoxingScene.com. The fight, which HBO will televise, is still being worked on. There is no set opponent and there is no set venue. Lewkowicz, and promoter Lou DiBella, are still considering three potential venues - including Luna Park and La Plata stadium, which holds close to 55,000 people.
Martinez is having right knee surgery on Monday in Madrid. The boxer will take it easy for a few weeks and then get right back training. Lewkowicz doesn't expect any delays on the date.
"He will return on April 27th in Argentina. Right now we are considering two possible opponents, but it's so early [in the talks] that it doesn't even pay to disclose their names," Lewkowicz said to BoxingScene.com.
If Martinez comes through in April, there have already been discussions regarding a rematch with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KOs) on Mexican Independence Day weekend in September. Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum told BoxingScene last week that he wants to schedule a fight for Chavez on an April HBO date, possibly against Matthew Macklin.
Chavez and Martinez clashed on September 15 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The event itself was one of the most successful shows of the year. The fight broke the attendance record at the Thomas & Mack Center with 19,186 seats, eclipsing the prior record of 19,151 for the Lennox Lewis vs. Evander Holyfield rematch. The HBO pay-per-view numbers were equally impressive. The event was able to exceed expectations by generating an estimated 475,000 pay-per-view buys and $24 million in revenue.
