Comments Thread For: “Fighting Words” — Middleweight Moves on Without Sergio

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

by David P. Greisman - That headline sitting toward the top of your screen might seem designed to rankle feathers, like it should come off as a knock on middleweight champion Sergio Martinez.

It isn’t. Instead, those words were selected in recognition of reality. They recognize the short-term reality of a sport where the man seen as the best fighter at 160 pounds, and one of the best boxers in the world, is out for the remainder of this year and into the beginning of next year while he recovers from knee and hand injuries he suffered in an April fight with Martin Murray.

They also recognize the long-term viability of the 160-pound weight class, which has enough talent in enough places that it can move on without Martinez.

That’s what we want, after all — not for Martinez to be gone, but rather for the top fighters in a division to stay active. We want them not to be held hostage by the activities, or inactivity, of the champion. We tend to tire of the risk-averse prospects and contenders who hold off on facing each other, choosing instead to remain available for a big fight and a significant paycheck. [Click Here To Read More]

[Mick Higgs]

well written article. Give it 3 years & the UK's Billy Joe Saunders will be right in the mix!!..........

[rogdogx]

Jesse Brinkley beat Curtis Stevens going away and CS was stopped by a guy that had 15 losses. Upon further examination Stevens has 10 first round stoppages but when your best wins are against Saul Roman and Darnell Boone, you aren't exactly knocking off the world beaters. He has one punch power but is outgunned in just about every other way. Golovkin has a great chin and will probably get this guy out faster than he beat Rosado. This is going to be a showcase for GGG. Who is actually picking this guy to win? I wonder if HBO will approve him. If they do it will just be because he is big, has a good punch, and will make an action fight. Is it the best competition for GGG? Probably not. But it will be entertaining. So that along with the lack of willing quality opposition for Gennady make this a palpable fight. I expect another dominant Triple G virtuoso performance. The Stevens win probably will earn God of War less credit than the Macklin win and about the same amount as the Rosado win just because Stevens isn't exactly elite. Lets face it the guy just skyrocketed in the rankings after calling GGG out. He was just ranked 30 on boxrec a couple weeks ago. Atleast he KO'd Roman in 1 to have a bit of clout though. As far as Kid Chocolate goes, he gets to be the big fish in a small golden boy pond. Thats good for him because he can hone his skills while beating the 2nd tier MW opposition GBP gets for him. Every threat to beat him is at HBO so he should be undefeated for awhile unless he gets complacent.

[nycsmooth]

a few fights out there Sergio won't take, I c his 1st bout coming bk an ezy 1, then who knows...Jr will b @ '68...GGG out of the question...I can c him going 2 '54, some big money bouts there...

[soul_survivor]

Middleweight has become one of the most intriguing divisions in boxing, if not the best. It's been good for a while now, the series of fights with Martinez and Williams and Pavlik and Taylor did a good job of keeping the division alive after Hopkins.

Now we have a stream of up and coming fighters, the pick of which seem to be in England with Saunders and Ryder. Add to that possible names moving up from 154. Then you have the guys on the cusp of being elite, Geale, Murray, Barker, Macklin and Quillin.

GGG is a hard one to figure out, his decimation of Macklin shows he has elite power but he hasn't fought a single elite opponent in his career, yet, which is why we all want the Martinez fight, having said that, physically Martinez seems to be on his last legs, quite literally, he might just end his career unifying against Geale/Barker winner or possibly Quillin (I know, there's the showtime problem but we've had that dispute fixed in the past).

No other division has so many potential big fights and game changers.

[KickAzz]

if Sergio don't make moves soon, he will be forgotten

[ramblingalp]

At 38 years old with two recent knee surgeries, Sergio who relies upon speed and athleticism doesn't have a lot of time to wait around. He's been a worthy champion, so here's hoping that there will be a big unification bout for him in the near future.

[hitking]

As long as the top guys fight each other, the division will remain exciting. But i t seems like that isn't gonna happen. They all seem to be angling for a Martinez fight.

As for the champ, I respect what Sergio has done as a fighter and hope he gets a chance a a big payday before he retires. He's likely to lose to any of the top middleweights mentioned in the article. For his sake, I'd like to see him get a shot at the Floyd-Canelo winner before passing the middleweight tourch.

[PittyPat]

If we're talking easy comeback opponents for Martinez, who should it be? As far as I can tell, the division has mostly big names at the forefront, none of whom I expect him to fight after such a long layoff (understandably so). Maybe he'll just pick a blown-up 154'er, or Rubio?