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WBC ORDERS JULIO CHAVEZ JR. TO FACE SERGIO MARTINEZ
In addition, the WBC ordered RING No. 5-rated middleweight and WBC beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (44-0-1, 31 KOs) to face RING middleweight titleholder Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs) in his next bout.
Martinez earned the undisputed middleweight belt with a unanimous decision over Kelly Pavlik in April of last year. He followed that up with a second-round knockout of Paul Williams (40-2, 27 KOs) in November, a rematch of their 2009 fight that Williams won by a controversial majority decision.
Martinez was forced to give up his WBC belt for fighting Sergie Dzinziruk in March on HBO, a fight Martinez won by an eight-round KO. The WBC then elevated Sebastian Zbik to the status of full champion and mandated that Zbik face Chavez, who dethroned him by a unanimous decision in June.
Martinez is coming off an 11th-round knockout of Darren Barker (23-1, 14 KOs) in October, and Chavez, off last month's fifth-round stoppage of Peter Manfredo Jr.
"Chavez can't take an interim fight. He has to fight Martinez next, unless we reach an agreement, Sergio and myself, with [Top Rank Inc. CEO] Bob Arum, or Chavez gets stripped," said Martinez's promoter, Lou DiBella. "I'll be talking with Arum and HBO. They've ordered Chavez against Martnez next, but I don't believe that's going to happen."
Sampson Lewkowicz, Martinez's adviser, has always contended his believe that Martinez would wind up facing Marco Antonio Rubio (52-5-1, 45 KOs) for the vacant WBC belt due to his belief that Chavez will be stripped for refusing to fight Martinez.
Lewkowicz said, nevertheless, that that Martinez would continue to pursue Chavez, a bout which WBC officials have mandated to take place in early 2012, although he doesn't expect the son of the legend by the same name to accept the fight.
"They can order themselves until they're blue in the face," said Arum. "Nobody's ordering anybody to do anything, period."
In addition, the WBC ordered RING No. 5-rated middleweight and WBC beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (44-0-1, 31 KOs) to face RING middleweight titleholder Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KOs) in his next bout.
Martinez earned the undisputed middleweight belt with a unanimous decision over Kelly Pavlik in April of last year. He followed that up with a second-round knockout of Paul Williams (40-2, 27 KOs) in November, a rematch of their 2009 fight that Williams won by a controversial majority decision.
Martinez was forced to give up his WBC belt for fighting Sergie Dzinziruk in March on HBO, a fight Martinez won by an eight-round KO. The WBC then elevated Sebastian Zbik to the status of full champion and mandated that Zbik face Chavez, who dethroned him by a unanimous decision in June.
Martinez is coming off an 11th-round knockout of Darren Barker (23-1, 14 KOs) in October, and Chavez, off last month's fifth-round stoppage of Peter Manfredo Jr.
"Chavez can't take an interim fight. He has to fight Martinez next, unless we reach an agreement, Sergio and myself, with [Top Rank Inc. CEO] Bob Arum, or Chavez gets stripped," said Martinez's promoter, Lou DiBella. "I'll be talking with Arum and HBO. They've ordered Chavez against Martnez next, but I don't believe that's going to happen."
Sampson Lewkowicz, Martinez's adviser, has always contended his believe that Martinez would wind up facing Marco Antonio Rubio (52-5-1, 45 KOs) for the vacant WBC belt due to his belief that Chavez will be stripped for refusing to fight Martinez.
Lewkowicz said, nevertheless, that that Martinez would continue to pursue Chavez, a bout which WBC officials have mandated to take place in early 2012, although he doesn't expect the son of the legend by the same name to accept the fight.
"They can order themselves until they're blue in the face," said Arum. "Nobody's ordering anybody to do anything, period."
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