Martinez-Kirkland; who wins.

5 fights would be a lot. By that time Martinez would already be past prime (2+ years).

Kirkland is absolutely not ready for this fight right now. He would need at least 4-5 fights against solid opposition to have a chance.

I honestly don't want to see Martinez fight any lower than he is now. He found his perfect weight, he's letting the money and fame get to him a little bit. Unless he walks around at a low weight, I don't think he should be draining himself, a mistake many fighters make for the big bucks.

Only Max would bring Kirkland up during a brilliant Martinez KO of the "top guy at 154" Kirkland just got out of jail and instead of HBO talking about Martinez fighting Cotto, Pirog, Canelo, Angulo, Chavez Jr., Zbik, Sturm, Sylvester, Cintron, Rhodes, Bundrage, Martisryon they want Martinez to fight Kirkland. My Martinez dream list would be 1. Floyd at 154 2. Manny at 150 just so I can here the weight drained debate again 3. Cotto 4. Sturm 5. Pirog 6. Chavez Jr. so the hypejob can finally be over 7. Canelo lets see what Ginger is really made of 8. Zbik his fake as$ Mandatory 9. Cintron so he can finsih what he started 10. Angulo the perro would get bitten 11. Kirkland. I still think he needs to earn his spot back to the top. I can't believe getting out of jail automatically gets HBO and Max to bring up his name like he has done more in the ring than out of it.

Only Max would bring Kirkland up during a brilliant Martinez KO of the "top guy at 154" Kirkland just got out of jail and instead of HBO talking about Martinez fighting Cotto, Pirog, Canelo, Angulo, Chavez Jr., Zbik, Sturm, Sylvester, Cintron, Rhodes, Bundrage, Martisryon they want Martinez to fight Kirkland. My Martinez dream list would be 1. Floyd at 154 2. Manny at 150 just so I can here the weight drained debate again 3. Cotto 4. Sturm 5. Pirog 6. Chavez Jr. so the hypejob can finally be over 7. Canelo lets see what Ginger is really made of 8. Zbik his fake as$ Mandatory 9. Cintron so he can finsih what he started 10. Angulo the perro would get bitten 11. Kirkland. I still think he needs to earn his spot back to the top. I can't believe getting out of jail automatically gets HBO and Max to bring up his name like he has done more in the ring than out of it.

Totally agree with you. Kirkland has been tagged by lesser unheard of fighters. Kirkland has also not been in the ring with a fighter of this caliber.

Kirkland gets destroyed due to his suspect chin. Kirkland is worst than Williams as he doesn't even try to avoid/look for his opponents punches. I give it about 3-4 rounds until Kirkland walks into a timed counter punch from Sergio. Took the words right out of my mouth, I don't think it's a good move for Kirkland to call Martinez out, but if he wants it, he could get it.

At what weight? If it's 154 I think Kirkland's pressure + power can take out a weight drained Martinez. I'll take Kirkland by TKO... At 160 Martinez will be too quick and accurate for him. Martinez KO's him. Either way, I don't think this fight goes the distance.

The way Kirkland fights, unless he drastically changes his style against Sergio, he's either getting stopped or stopping Sergio. Frankly, I don't see him koing Sergio, but if he busts him up enough and scores a kd in addition, he can go on to win on points. So I favor Sergio by ko/tko or Kirkland by decision. Sergio looked like he was slowing down before the eight, so who knows, he may gas and get stopped late. But chances are small. Yep. If Kirkland comes barreling in to Martinez as soon as that first bell sounds, I could picture a flash knockdown for Kirkland but as Martinez adjusts to the power I see a mid-late round stoppage for Martinez. There's nothing technically that would surprise Martinez. Kirkland is basically a fit Arreola.

And why was he resting? For 2 reasons, as Kellerman and Roy stated; his style is exhausting and his muscular build makes him slow down. I wouldn't even go that far. I just think its a strategy he uses to reserve energy. It's possible he knows he may have slowed down at some point, so decided to cut back early so it doesn't happen - as opposed to actually getting tired and then being forced to rest - instead he does so on his own. Many fighters do it. We usually see fighters start strong and gradually fade and end the fight tired. We've never seen that with sergio.. instead we see him start strong, take a rest somewhere in between and finish how he started. Because of this, you can never argue that he will fade late. Other fighters who use this method are Nick Diaz (mma), Nate Diaz (mma) Carloz Manson and even Lance Armstrong. What do the above mentioned fighters and Martinez have in common with Lance Armstrong? They are all cyclist. Cyclist do this all the time in meets. It's the equivalent of not working the pedal and just letting the bike roll. Sergio knows what he's doing.

Negative. Sergio normally takes 2-3 rounds off - it's always pretty visible too. He took round 5 off and ended up scoring a knockdown at the end of it so naturally a second wind came. He worked a bit in round 6 before getting controlled handily in round 7. In round 8, he returned (for as long as the round lasted) with the same poise and head movement that he had in the first. This to me was evidence that he took 7 off. That same poise and movement that was missing for 2 rounds is what lead to the counter that scored the KD into the KO. I wouldn't say he was slowing down - just resting. And why was he resting? For 2 reasons, as Kellerman and Roy stated; his style is exhausting and his muscular build makes him slow down.

The way Kirkland fights, unless he drastically changes his style against Sergio, he's either getting stopped or stopping Sergio. Frankly, I don't see him koing Sergio, but if he busts him up enough and scores a kd in addition, he can go on to win on points. So I favor Sergio by ko/tko or Kirkland by decision. Sergio looked like he was slowing down before the eight, so who knows, he may gas and get stopped late. But chances are small. Negative. Sergio normally takes 2-3 rounds off - it's always pretty visible too. He took round 5 off and ended up scoring a knockdown at the end of it so naturally a second wind came. He worked a bit in round 6 before getting controlled handily in round 7. In round 8, he returned (for as long as the round lasted) with the same poise and head movement that he had in the first. This to me was evidence that he took 7 off. That same poise and movement that was missing for 2 rounds is what lead to the counter that scored the KD into the KO. I wouldn't say he was slowing down - just resting.

The way Kirkland fights, unless he drastically changes his style against Sergio, he's either getting stopped or stopping Sergio. Frankly, I don't see him koing Sergio, but if he busts him up enough and scores a kd in addition, he can go on to win on points. So I favor Sergio by ko/tko or Kirkland by decision. Sergio looked like he was slowing down before the eight, so who knows, he may gas and get stopped late. But chances are small.

I think Martinez wins,but if he fights with his hands down like he did tonight the dude will get koed. Funny.. people said this about the WIlliams and Pavlik fight too. and guess what? his hands were down. Serious, you wanna talk about hype jobs look no further than James Kirkland. His biggest win is who? Joel Julio? Outside of that who has he fought? Why this is even considered is beyond me. Not only is Kirkland overrated, he's not even that good yet. He's still wild, sloppy, easy to hit with a suspect chin but crazy power and tenacity that has yet to be tamed properly.

Lets say Kirkland gets a few more fights to get back in the game and Martinez KO's another fighter and they both meet, who would win? Classic style match up. haha, why does kirkland get 'a few more' and martinez just gets one? either way, i don't see kirkland stopping martinez. he should fight his way up first, but by that time, sergio will be retired...kirkland has a lot of great options though..

Kirkland is a beat but he would get picked apart by Martinez.

Kirkland gets destroyed due to his suspect chin. Kirkland is worst than Williams as he doesn't even try to avoid/look for his opponents punches. I give it about 3-4 rounds until Kirkland walks into a timed counter punch from Sergio.

It's unreal how much power Kirkland has, but of course he had to have a suspect chin.

stylewise it's an awesome fight, but kirklands chin will not hold up to the pin point accuracy of martinez with martinez's power..... martinez would knock kirkland down as many times as he did dzinziurik..... we've seen kirkland rocked before by lessor power guys, sergio would pop that cherry.......

Martinez would counter him whole night and catch him with a big punch Martinez by stoppage