by Geoffrey Ciani (Interviewed by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – This week’s 113th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with the number one middleweight in the world Sergio Martinez (46-2-2. 25 KOs) who is scheduled to face Serhiy Dzinziruk (37-0, 23 KOs) on March 12 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Martinez spoke about his upcoming fight and also reflected on his career and provided opinions on the current boxing landscape. Here is what he had to say:
His views on his March 12 opponent Serhiy Dzinziruk:
“I feel very good right now. Training camp is going very well. Dzinziruk is a very tough opponent and I am training very hard for this fight.”
On whether he feels Dzinziruk has a good chance against him:
“I feel he’s a great fighter. He’s a very smart fighter. He’s been a great champion but there is no way on March 12 that he is going to be able to beat me.”
His views on being stripped of the WBC middleweight title:
“I understand the situation and the situation is very tough to answer, but the thing is I want to fight the best and I just know that that’s going to put me in a better position to fight for the title again. So it’s just a very complicated question.”
On whether he feels any pressure going into 2011 given his impressive award winning-efforts in 2010:
“That doesn’t really give me a lot of pressure. In fact it’s the reverse. It gives me more motivation and I really want to show the people out there and show my fans who the best fighter in the world is. It’s a great motivation and I’m ready to fight anybody.”
Regarding the fact this will be the third fight in his last four against a southpaw and whether he does anything fundamentally different when preparing to face a fellow southpaw:
“Going back to the first fight with Paul Williams, that was a very great training camp and I learned quite a bit. In fact, I matured a lot ever since then and this is probably one of the best training camps I’ve ever had, especially against a left like Serhiy. I feel very comfortable fighting against a southpaw.”
On whether he feels he is just now reaching his peak strength and comfort level as a middleweight:
“Yes, right now I am at my best. I definitely feel very comfortable at 160 pounds.”
His views on the undercard fight between Andy Lee and Craig McEwan and whether he views the winner as a possible future opponent:
“Right now I’m more concerned about Serhiy. I don’t care about who is in the co-main event, or who is in the main event, or about Mayweather, or Pacquiao, or anybody out there. Right now my concentration is on Dzinziruk, Serhiy Dzinziruk.”
On what it means to represent his home country of Argentina as a world champion after beating Kelly Pavlik:
“This is probably my best win in my career and definitely I want to represent all of the Argentine champions and keep this tradition going. So much time has passed since we had a middleweight champion, so I’m definitely very gracious and just very grateful for that opportunity.”
His views on Carlos Monzon as a world champion and a fighter:
“Carlos Monzon has always actually been one of my idols. When I was younger and he would fight the whole country of Argentina would stop and watch him fight and that hasn’t happened ever since. I’m just very grateful to follow in his footsteps.”
On what it would mean to him to fight in front of his own country as a champion:
“Absolutely, that would be one of my dreams to fight in front of the Argentine fans and an Argentine crowd.”
On whether he was at all disappointed that a rumored fight between him and Miguel Cotto never came to fruition:
“No, I wasn’t disappointed at all. In fact, I understand the business and this is something that happens, but the thing is that there is always the future. I think the fight with Dzinziruk is going to be a great fight and I’m excited about this fight. There is always time for Cotto or anyone else in the future.”
His views on the May showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Sugar Shane Mosley:
“I feel that Mosley is not the fighter that he used to be. Mosley was a great fighter and champion as well, but Pacquiao is great champion. The thing with Pacquiao is it’s not a very dangerous fight for him. It just so happens that Pacquiao is always fighting the not-so-dangerous type of fights and fighters.”
On whether his new found championship fame has made him lose his hunger or desire to prove his greatness to the fans:
“My hunger hasn’t decreased at all. In fact I’ve gotten hungrier these last several years than I had my whole career. My whole goal in life right now is to become the best fighter in the world today pound-for-pound. If I lose that hunger, if I lose just a little bit, then it’s time for me to go. I’m going to retire.”
On what it means to him to be viewed as one of the top two or three fighters in the world:
“Well I’m definitely grateful for where I’m at now, but it’s just with this motivation I have in me. It’s always been my dream to become the best fighter in the world and it’s only a matter of time. I believe this year is going to be my year and I’m going to fight the best fighters out there to prove it to the world that I deserve to be number one.”
On what things he believes Dzinzirul could do to possibly give him trouble:
“You know, it’s funny that you say that but I really don’t think about what kind of problems he’s going to give me or anything like that. I focus more on what I’m going to do in the fight, my strategy, and how I’m going to go about beating him.”
On what he believes he needs to do to be successful against Dzinziruk:
“I need to remain 100% focused on my training camp. In fact this is one of the best training camps that I’ve had. We’re preparing a great strategy for this fight that I need to execute perfectly to beat him and that’s where we’re at right now.”
His official prediction for his upcoming fight against Serhiy Dzinziruk:
“I’m going to win by knockout before the seventh or eighth round, but it’s going to be a great fight. It’s going to be an exciting fight. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but I’m definitely going to knock him out.”
On what he would like to say to all of his fans and supporters and the listeners of On the Ropes Boxing Radio:
“First of all, I want to thank you guys for this great show. Second of all, I want to thank all of my fans, especially all of the ones who in 2010 voted for me to be Fighter of the Year. This year is going to be a better year in 2011. I promise to leave it all in the ring and just be the best that I can be, both in and out of the ring.”
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For those interested in listening to the Sergio Martinez interview in its entirety, it begins approximately fourteenminutes (14:03) into the program.
RIGHT CLICK and ‘SAVE AS’ TO DOWNLOAD EPISODE #113
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