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On November 20th Sergio Martinez knocked out Paul Williams with a vicious left hand that punctuated his rise within the world of boxing.
Martinez's arrival as an elite fighter has been less than typical and unfortunately, is not providing him the millions upon millions of dollars a top three pound for pound fighter might expect to garner.
At age 35, Martinez only became a fixture on HBO after an eye catching performance against Alex Bunema a little over two years ago. Since then, the Argentinian has fought everyone put in front of him and is likely to capture the 2010 Fighter of the Year Award due to his victories over Williams and a Kelly Pavlik.
Due to his age, "Maravilla" has been very open about wrapping up his career in the next year or so and wanting to cash out on his thirteen years of globetrotting as a boxer.
Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Julio Cesar Chavez Junior and Antonio Margarito all interest Martinez, but his promoter Lou Dibella has been unable - mainly due to boxing's endless political game between promoters - to land a high profile fight and payday.
HBO has shown interest in televising Martinez three times during 2011, but without household names in the middleweight division, even putting together a proposed March 12 fight at New York's Madison Square Garden has proven to be difficult for DiBella.
Tonight Dibella stated on Boxingscene that Martinez's opponent would be selected by HBO from the trio of: Sebastian Zbik (also in the running for a bout with Chavez Junior), Irishman Andy Lee, or Sergui Dzinziruk.
Seemingly, everything that has made Martinez successful - learning his craft over a series of years away from the public eye, a willingless to fight anyone and being successful in doing so - has not equated into an easy move to boxing's high rent District.
Add the facts that Martinez does not speak English well, has no real geographic fan base, lurks in a division barren of other true marquee talent, and his final years as a boxer will likely be one negotiating nightmare, after another.
Unfortunately, Martinez is arguably one of the best three fighters in the world, but aside from a few hundred thousand hardcore boxing fans, nobody could care less.
Martinez's arrival as an elite fighter has been less than typical and unfortunately, is not providing him the millions upon millions of dollars a top three pound for pound fighter might expect to garner.
At age 35, Martinez only became a fixture on HBO after an eye catching performance against Alex Bunema a little over two years ago. Since then, the Argentinian has fought everyone put in front of him and is likely to capture the 2010 Fighter of the Year Award due to his victories over Williams and a Kelly Pavlik.
Due to his age, "Maravilla" has been very open about wrapping up his career in the next year or so and wanting to cash out on his thirteen years of globetrotting as a boxer.
Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Julio Cesar Chavez Junior and Antonio Margarito all interest Martinez, but his promoter Lou Dibella has been unable - mainly due to boxing's endless political game between promoters - to land a high profile fight and payday.
HBO has shown interest in televising Martinez three times during 2011, but without household names in the middleweight division, even putting together a proposed March 12 fight at New York's Madison Square Garden has proven to be difficult for DiBella.
Tonight Dibella stated on Boxingscene that Martinez's opponent would be selected by HBO from the trio of: Sebastian Zbik (also in the running for a bout with Chavez Junior), Irishman Andy Lee, or Sergui Dzinziruk.
Seemingly, everything that has made Martinez successful - learning his craft over a series of years away from the public eye, a willingless to fight anyone and being successful in doing so - has not equated into an easy move to boxing's high rent District.
Add the facts that Martinez does not speak English well, has no real geographic fan base, lurks in a division barren of other true marquee talent, and his final years as a boxer will likely be one negotiating nightmare, after another.
Unfortunately, Martinez is arguably one of the best three fighters in the world, but aside from a few hundred thousand hardcore boxing fans, nobody could care less.
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