Comments Thread For: Merchant: Martinez is Lucky To Get 10% With Mayweather

[josenoway]

No surprise Merchant is on Chavez Jr.'s bandwagon. And while it's true Martinez is where he is because he stayed loyal to Lou, I can't hate on him for that. I see no problem with Martinez calling out either Pac or Floyd at 154. What's the problem with Martinez going back down? It's not like he's calling them to come up. Look at Pac, his last fight he forced a 135 pound Marquez up to welter, and his next fight he's forcing a 140 pound Bradley to come up as well. Martinez offers to drop down to 150 and people throw mud at him and insist he go up to 168, despite the fact that his last couple fights, he weighs in a couple pounds short of MW.

[Ko King 212]

Not undisputed. He is is the lineal MW champ, not undisputed. He would have to collect WBC, WBO, and WBA titles for that.

I bet he thought he was telling me off.. Lol

[rayb112]

I dont know why some of you are surprised with all the hate HBO commentators were giving Sergio last night...

Over the last several months how many times has Sergio called out Pacquiao(Top Rank), JCC(Top Rank) and praised Mayweather...

Some can recall when Mayweater was with Top Rank HBO commentators could say NO wrong about him...but as soon as Mayweather left Top Rank the verbal assalts came one after another...

I remember reading a month or so back about HBO commentators were not allowed to make any comments about "Out of the RING" activities regarding Al Haymon fighters...

Can you follow me...

[mistermartin]

Based on what?

Ortiz beat a reigning #2WW champion when he fought Berto.

Martinez beat Pavlik after Pavlik got humiliated by BHOP and PWILL after PWILL had gotten exposed by Quintana and had a win over him.

Why do fans say make such exaggerated and extremely unfounded statements?

After last night's performance, I hate to say it but Merchant is right on this one.

Are you seriously implying that this guy is boxing like a P4P#3???????

This is why I hate subjective lists. they open up a can of worms that lead to DUMBSHlT like this.

It allows people who have no reasons to write what they do to nominate ANYONE as the best, and they have no responsibility to back it up.

This isn't a case of having an off night. Martinez looked less than world class in his fight before that as well. The questions and su****ions that were born in the Barker fight were not answered last night.

I don't understand how anyone could call this man P4P when it was truly Macklin's lack of conditioning that lost him the fight and Martinez' superior conditioning that won it for him.

ANYONE can look like they've adjusted and they are "turning it up" once their opponent's are completely gassed.

Some of you seriously don't watch or understand boxing.

Once a fighter is gassed but refuses to quit, what can he do but weather the storm or hope to land a hail mary shot? Macklin wasn't impressive as a boxer, but his approach basically laid a blueprint to how to beat Martinez.

If you fight from behind your jab and pump it .. if you keep your hands up especially after throwing .. if you move to your right after landing and throw a left hook .. Martinez is reduced to pot-shotting and running.

Rewatch the fight. Macklin is taking the fight by storm by any measure. But he's doing enough to score and stay in the fight and even eventually takes the lead. Macklin is a limited fighter, but his approach wasn't meant to display any god given skill. It was meant to nullify Sergio's approach IF AND ONLY IF he kept doing the things that were keeping him in the fight from the beginning.

Matt gave up head movement that was making Sergio miss.

Matt gave up jabbing that made Sergio retreat and opened up opportunities for him Matt to score.

Matt gave began following Sergio around because he got impatient because he knew he didn't have much left.

Matt gave up going for bodyshots at that point in favor or hail mary headshots because he needed to land something big real fast because he was gassing after the 8th.

Nothing Sergio supposedly adapted to forced Macklin to make those mistakes .. and I challenge anyone to discuss what Sergio did to turn the tide aside from simply outlasting Macklin's conditioning.

If Macklin could have conceivably finished the fight strong, he was in a position to get a draw or a win before the 11th round knockdowns. And anyone watching the fight saw that Macklin was simply plodding forward and throwing sloppy shots by that point. He wasn't the same guy as he was from round 3-8.

Sergio Martinez's last two performances were no better than Devon Alexander's performances against Lucas Matthysse and Andriy Kotelnyk.

The real difference being a willingness to honestly critique a performance on the merits and not on how much you like a guy.

Because so many believe that Sergio is better than he is despite him only having two noteworthy wins in 50+ fights, some feel the need to defend him when there is no defense.

I usually HATE the HBO telecast. I'm notoriously one of their biggest haters. But they were calling what happened last night right.

Sergio definitely won, but his performance showed that he was absolutely nothing special. And as Lampley pointed out, someone close to Sergio in his own camp expressed that there is reason to be concerned about Martinez' ability to win fights nowadays.

Are U ****ing ******ed?? He fought Paul after quitana exposed him?? Yeah. well no other welter including floyd or pac was willing to fight him after as u say he was exposed stfu ***git! Paul couldn't get a fight in 3 divs bc he was avoided. When MArtinez beat pav he was the undisputed MW champion period **** u & a hopkins catchwt fight...wuts ur point??

Mutha****a pacquiao has looked like **** in his last 3 fights & he's still ranked 1 or 2....tell me who r ur top 5 p4p fighters?? Sergio is RULING 2 divs. He's 5'10...why the **** should he go up to fight guys 6'2 & better?? Why?? I guess AA didn't prove that to be a bad experiment.ur the one who sounds dumb. Look at martinez's last 8 fights & tell me who should rank ahead of him.

U sound like a damned fool w/ all ur "wut if" scenarios...u rewatch the fight...fact is macklin is a pressure fighter who came out & didn't apply pressure. & moved & didn't throw punches....clearly his gameplan was to be on defense & stay at home & to fight in spurts...to move & not give any opps for exchanges...foh w/ the **** ur kickin. U don't even realize that in the barker fight ANNNNDDDD the ****ing macklin fight...sergio is breaking guys down ONE PUNCH AT A TIME....they aren't staying around to get hit w/ combos....he knockin ninjas out even after pot shotting for 6-7-8 rds....

What guys are trying to do is the equivalent of basketball teams trying to make an entire game a half-court game instead of running so they can stay in the game & have a chance to win...same in football....whatever sport u want to apply. But martinez has a way to turn up the flame & get it done. Macklin was NEVER in control of the fight NEVER....Merrchant is a fa* & a fool & so are u di*khead....beat it.

[rey guey]

He's right. Martinez should be calling out fighters like Ward and Bute. If he calls out Chavez, then why not them? Wanting to fight Floyd or Manny is ****ing pathetic. He ain't no small MW - that's BS.

Bute and Ward aren't middleweight. would either of them make 160? Chavez 180 ring weight is from rehydration, it water weight. Bute and Ward and naturally bigger guys. Martinez doesn't need to go anywhere. BHop did the same when he was middleweight king, he called out welterweight Oscar de la Hoya for years, fighter follow the money. it isnt anything new

why not have Ricky Hatton at 175 fight Bhop

[mistermartin]

It's too bad to hear this from Larry. Why is he hating so bad on Martinez and rooting for Chavez? He makes it sound like Martinez was lucky to get the knockout last night. He actually dominated the fight for the most part. I gave Macklin 3 rounds at most, including the knockdown round.

He does have a good point on Martinez complaining that smaller guys won't fight him but he himself won't fight 168 pounders.

Here's wut I don't understand about ur point...Martinez is 5'10 didn't even make the MW limit came in 157 on weigh-in....He fights in between 54 & 60. Floyd fought DLH & ortiz Pac fought Margarito & DLH both guys are bigger than martinez...Ortiz came into the FMJ fight weighng as much as a LHW fighter...how the **** is a guy who fights at 54 & around the same weight & ht or smaller picking on smaller fighters who have won actual titles in a div??? The best fighters at SMW are 4 inches or better in height & weigh 180lbs HAsn't AA proved it's too far of a gap to compete w/ them at the heighest level....for wut?? The issue isn't size...the issue is speed skill & pwr...Martinez is a dangerous ****ing fighter who they may not be able to hurt but he could hurt them...they are the 2 best in the world & fight in his div...y would't he call them out. They're also the biggest money earners...it's not like SM hasn't earned his spot. He's in no man's land & they are all afraid to risk themselves....bottom line.

[Main Source]

Bute and Ward aren't middleweight. would either of them make 160? Chavez 180 ring weight is from rehydration, it water weight. Bute and Ward and naturally bigger guys. Martinez doesn't need to go anywhere. BHop did the same when he was middleweight king, he called out welterweight Oscar de la Hoya for years, fighter follow the money. it isnt anything new

why not have Ricky Hatton at 175 fight Bhop

I don't want Ward or Bute to move down in weight. I want Martinez to move up or settle somewhere in the middle. Begging Manny and Floyd for a fight is embarrassing.

B-Hop never really got recognition for picking De La Hoya - especially not after what Sturm did to him prior. It was a good K.O. win for B-Hop but it weighs more on his resume than it should - thanks to Oscar's name and fame.

[Fetta]

Man so much hate. Martinez is not overrated or looking like crap. He beat a legit MWwho has skills. So what it took him till the 11th he got the job done. Now people arguing he should fight bigger guys to prove he is good instead of calling out PAC or Floyd who are flirting in one of HIS divisions. He came in at 157 that's between jr MW and MW. Before you know it many will be calling for Ward to fight Wlad or he's a joke. 4 ko in 5 fights give the man his props.

[Ringlife]

Sergio use to fight at 147 and at 154 now he's fighting at 160. Which he's not that big at all I mean he's a small MW so hows he going to go up to 168 and fight those guys. Mayweather fighting Cotto at 154 so why not Sergio at 154.What's the Problem the number 1 P4P fighter fighting the number 3 P4P fighter in the world. If the number 1 p4p fighter and the number 2 p4p fighter can't get in the ring then number 1 and 3 p4p fighters should fight each other.

[Brother Jay]

Wait...what are you insinuating that Ortiz>Martinez?

If Martinez were at WW I would give Ortiz a hell of a chance to KO Martinez.

What you're implying is that because Martinez, who campaigns as a MW, is the bigger fighter that Ortiz would have no chance.

That was a not so clever way to sidestep the true meaning of what I was expressing:

Martinez' skills are not special. His conditioning is, and that's why he's hoping to get either Mayweather or Pacquiao before he hangs his gloves up.

Its about Sergio staying relevant against these soft touches until he can land the Mayweather or Pacquiao payday sweepstakes.

But Macklin showed that last night that Sergio is NOT superior as a fighter. He is superior as an endurance athlete. He lasts long enough for his opponents to gas and potshots them until he gains the confidence to come inside with his hands down.

I laugh because you somehow still think that Martinez is an elite boxer. He struggled against both Barker and Macklin. Yet you still unjustly rate him among the best.

I don't know how well Ortiz would do at 154, but if he could put forth the same effort he did against Berto, I'd give him a chance against Martinez simply because I think that if the weight agreed with Ortiz, he could beat both Barker and Macklin more convincingly than Martinez did.

The above wasn't the core of my comment, but I thought I'd touch on what you asked.