Sergio Martinez

Sergio Martinez boxing news

Martinez-Chavez Jr: Middleweight Supremacy Awaits

Martinez-Chavez Jr: Middleweight Supremacy AwaitsBy Padraig Ivory: On Saturday night boxing enthusiasts should be presented with their answer, as one fighter ascends to the peak of the middleweight mountain. The unbiased majority can already envisage the green strap loosely aboard the torso of Argentinean sensation Sergio Martinez. However the silhouette of Mexican fighter Julio Chavez Jr, escaping from the shadow of his much celebrated father, is fast approaching the summit of the 160lb division. The Thomas and Mack Centre will be expecting a raucous atmosphere as the drama unfolds.

Numerically speaking Chavez Jr is the owner of the superior professional record boasting an immaculate 46-0-1, with 32 knockouts racked up to date. In contrast the resume of ‘ Maravilla’ reveals the Oxnard resident has tasted defeat on two occasions since entering the paid ranks. Boxing purists will confirm that numbers are merely that, numbers. The quality of competitor to have bravely stood across the ring from the unorthodox power punching Martinez can lead to only one conclusion when the topic of comparing records is raised.

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Roach: Chavez Jr’s resistant to moving up to 168 lbs

Roach: Chavez Jr's resistant to moving up to 168 lbsBy Michael Collins: Trainer Freddie Roach says that he’s tried without success to get WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) to move up in weight to the super middleweight division in order for him to not to have to struggle at making the 160 pound middleweight limit. Chavez Jr. has been draining down from over 180 lbs to make weight at 160 for his last handful of fights dating back to 2010.

Chavez Jr. then rehydrates back up to 180 come fight time and is effectively a cruiserweight when he steps inside the ring with his opponents. Thus far he’s been able to get away with it because he’s been able to dominate the smaller and mostly limited opposition that his promoter Bob Arum has matched him up against. However, it’s pretty clear that Chavez Jr. won’t be able to drain down indefinitely. He’s going to reach a point soon to where he can no longer safely make weight for his middleweight fights, and will have to move up to 168.

Roach told RingTV.com “I always say that Chavez should go to 168, but he always disagrees with me. He says he’s okay, but I know that I’ve seen him suffer to make that fight. I believe he would be a stronger fighter at 168….He goes into the ring at 180 or 185, and beats up on smaller guys and it has worked out well for him.”

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Prediction: Sergio Martinez to beat Chavez Jr. by KO

Prediction: Sergio Martinez to beat Chavez Jr. by KOBy Emilio Camacho, Esq. Several of you have emailed me asking for a prediction for the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. v. Sergio Martinez fight. By popular demand, here it is. First, I want to note that I am making a bold prediction because almost all experts expect the fight to go to decision and most expect Martinez to win on points. I am partly going a step further and here is why.

First, let us look at Chavez. He has youth, great conditioning, a granite chin, a size advantage, and the benefit of having his father’s advice. However, he lacks world-class experience and, the best fighter he faced, Andy Lee, in my opinion, was a overrated. More significantly, Chavez does not use his height advantage at all because his fighting style is better tailored for someone smaller like his father.

Although Roach has attempted to get him boxing a bit more to use his reach advantage, he falls back into brawler mode and looping punches to the body quite easily. Given these considerations, the only way I see Chavez winning this fight is if he is able to slow Martinez down with body shots, get Martinez on the ropes or fighting close, and pound the middle weight champion to submission with his weight advantage and relentless aggression. However, I believe this is unlikely to happen as I will explain after I analyze Martinez’s advantages.

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Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez: Just the facts!

Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez: Just the facts!by Robert Jackson: The ‘Just the facts’ series has held court for many fights dating back to the Mayweather/De La Hoya matchup, and since then has offered a technical perspective in regards to the upcoming ‘BIG’ fight, ending with the big reveal. Today’s edition will analyze and try to figure out the viability of ‘the Son of a legend’, and also, Argentina’s own Maravilla. Trainers, training and conditioning, and the all important intangibles will be discussed and dissected.

Trainers

Sergio Martinez’ trainer Pablo Sarmiento is the brother of Martinez’ original trainer Gabriel Sarmiento who guided Maravilla earlier in his career. Pablo first worked the corner of Martinez as head trainer during the Sergei Dziniruk fight, a fight where Martinez got a KO in the late rounds. In the following 2 fights Martinez was able to get KO’s in both fights. The relationship between fighter and trainer appears to be like that of 2 brothers.

Freddie Roach trainer of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, as portrayed during HBO’s 24/7 series at best appears to be just a ‘corner man’. It didn’t look like much gymwork and mitts work that Roach is known for was done between the hall of fame trainer and his charge. Chavez Jr chose odd hours to get his work outs in and worked mitts with another trainer as shown during the 24/7 docudrama. Roach’s disappointment was obvious during the 2 episode series. How close to reality this trainer/fighter relationship no one will know until fight night.

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Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) By Paul Strauss: What’s a silly movie made in 1966, starring Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers and Buster Keaton got to do with this Saturday night’s HBO PPV fight night at the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV? Maybe it should be rephrased to …….”Life is what happens when you’re making plans”, or in this case game plans.

In the classic matchups between boxers and punchers, we expect the puncher to attack, hoping to land the big shot. If that doesn’t work, it’s expected he will continue applying extreme pressure, enforcing a threat, hoping to wear down his opponent and then eventually administering the coup de grace (or a series of them if necessary). On the other hand, the boxer is often expected to stay away, jabbing, moving and building up points in hopes of getting a decision. It’s not that unusual to expect he might even get lucky and cut the slugger and get a TKO. It’s pretty simple, right? The fighter who is best at carrying out his fight plan wins the fight.

However, more often than not, funny things happen along the way, and you’ll hear losing fighters in post-fight interviews say things like, “I just couldn’t get off tonight” or “He was faster and stronger than I expected” (Chad Dawson). Maybe the funny thing is “He was in a zone” or “He was really up for this one.” It is an emotional thing that can cause an announcer on nights like that to describe the high level of a fighter’s motivation by saying, “There’s something funny going on here”. (Can you say Buster Douglas) Sometimes new words are even invented as a result of the surprise, such as “rope-a-dope”.

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JC Chavez Jr. set the trap…has Maravilla already taken the bait?

JC Chavez Jr. set the trap…has Maravilla already taken the bait?By Joseph Herron: Great trainers insist to every fighter who walks through their gym to leave all emotion at the door. The sport of pugilism is not about violence, but built on sportsmanship, discipline, and athleticism.

Most decisions a fighter makes in the ring based on emotion almost always leads to a disappointing result. Adversely, every logical and intellectual judgment made within the hostile confines of the squared circle usually results in a satisfying performance and a victory.

Leading up to this Saturday’s main event at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the fighter most affectionately known as “Maravilla” has been uncharacteristically carrying around a sack full of emotion based largely on pride, vengeance, and anger.

Will the universally recognized Middleweight Champion decide to leave his emotions at the door of the Thomas & Mack Center this Saturday night? Team Chavez certainly hopes that he doesn’t.

On July 14th, 2012, we witnessed a similar dramatic situation unfold in the ring.

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Sergio Martinez wants Chavez Jr. to suffer slowly and painfully on Saturday

Sergio Martinez wants Chavez Jr. to suffer slowly and painfully on SaturdayBy Dwight Chittenden: If things go the way that Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) envisions them to be this Saturday, WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) is going to experience a lot of pain and suffering in taking his first loss of his career when they fight at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Martinez said “It won’t be a quick knockout. I will punish him [Chavez Jr] a lot and after that I will knock him out and he will suffer a lot. I hope someone in your corner stops the fight because I will never stop. I will continue punishing you.”

Unless Chavez Jr’s chin is made of iron it’s not likely that he’ll suffer a great deal. Martinez hits with the kind of power that puts you down when he lands cleanly. Chavez Jr. is painfully slow with his movements and if he gets hurt by one of the southpaw Martinez’s left hands, it’s going to be hard for Chavez Jr. to survive it. Martinez tends to drop his opponents from single shots to the head. If he lands a clean left to the head of Chavez Jr. that could be all she wrote. The suffering won’t enter into it.

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How would Sergio Martinez or Chavez Jr. fair against Andre Ward?

How would Sergio Martinez or Chavez Jr. fair against Andre Ward?By Robert Jackson: Now that we’ve gotten Ward/Dawson out of the way, what’s up next is the Martinez/Chavez Jr fight! The winner of this fight could rightfully be in line for a BIG money PPV match-up against the undefeated Andre Ward. An undefeated Chavez Jr facing and undefeated Ward would be the better match-up unless…Martinez puts on a virtuoso performance while beating Chavez Jr.

Looking at the case for either man facing Ward next you first have Chavez Jr who at 26 is outgrowing the 160lb division, while the 37 year old Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez is counting down to the twilight of his career. The BIGGER interest and promotion would be for Chavez Jr to face Ward, he has a bigger name and following. He fights in the rough-tough Mexican style even though Freddie Roach has added a few wrinkles to his style, and he would bring the fight to Ward.

Martinez a technician just like Ward starts slowly making adjustments along the way to even out a fight and makes more adjustments as a fight moves forwards to pull ahead. Late in recent fights Maravilla has gotten KO’s, after slow starts. He’ll do the same against Chavez Jr in their upcoming fight. Doing this against Ward could result in a chess match with 2 thoughtful fighters trying to out-think each other, a possibly low punch output, less action affair. Fans may anticipate a snoozer of a fight which would make this fight the least desirable one.

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Is Maravilla taking his fight against Chavez Jr. too seriously?

Is Maravilla taking his fight against Chavez Jr. too seriously?By Robert Jackson: Yesterday, I wrote a piece asking the question as to whether Julio Cesar Chavez Jr was just putting on an act for the cameras which showed him ‘slacking off’ while training for his September 15th fight against Sergio Martinez. HBO’s 24/7 docudrama featured Chavez Jr. deliberately missing scheduled training sessions, sleeping in, and not training at all in one case. In fact Chavez Jr’s body didn’t look as toned as it could be to engage in an upcoming professional fight.

To Chavez Jr’s credit his 7 day weigh-in had him weighing the same 167lbs as Sergio Martinez weighed in at. For a much bigger, heavier man that says that Chavez Jr IS preparing but playing mind games with us all.

All the while Chavez Jr was supposedly missing training sessions, Sergio Martinez was shown training like a machine with the intention as he put it to make Chavez Jr. “regret taking the fight”. Martinez was shown resting in a hyperbaric chamber to increase his blood-oxygen uptake. Maravilla has been shown executing different drills, conditioning, sparring and bag work to get him ready for battle. A lot of discipline and seriousness has been exercised on the Martinez side of things to be ready on fight night. Maybe a little too serious?

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