by Geoffrey Ciani (Interviewed by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – This week’s 116th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with middleweight king Sergio Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KOs) who is coming off of an impressive eighth round stoppage against the previously unbeaten Serhiy Dzinziruk (37-1, 23 KOs). It was a sensational effort by Martinez who is now widely regarded amongst the very best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. Martinez spoke about his victory, discussed his future, and spoke about other matters pertaining to the current boxing landscape. Here is a complete transcript of that interview.
JENNA J: Speaking of greatness and great fighters, we actually have the pleasure to be joined by the reigning, defending, middleweight champion of the world, making his fourth appearance with “On the Ropes”. We are joined by Sergio Martinez. How are you doing today Sergio?
SERGIO MARTINEZ: Thank you so much! I’m having a great day and I’m happy to be here.
JENNA: Great! You are coming off a very impressive performance this past weekend against Serhiy Dzinziruk, an opponent that was 37-0. How did you feel about your performance?
MARTINEZ: It was a great fight. It was probably one of the best performances of my career and I was very, very focused for this fight.
JENNA: Now one thing you did in this particular fight that surprised a lot of people was that you out-jabbed Dzinziruk. Was that something you trained for in the training camp for this particular fight?
MARTINEZ: Yes absolutely I did work on it. That’s something I had to do to take his away from him. I had to out-jab him and outwork him, especially in the jab department.
JENNA: Sergio, in this fight you knocked him down five times, but did you feel just being in the ring with him that you were naturally just going to be the bigger man throughout the night and be able to push him around?
MARTINEZ: Yes absolutely, because I trained very hard for that. Absolutely.
JENNA: The big question on everyone’s mind is who’s next for you. Who do you see out there that you would like to be in the ring with next?
MARTINEZ: It’s always been my dream to be pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world and the only two guys in front of me are Mayweather and Pacquiao and I’m going to have to beat both of them!
JENNA: Okay speaking of Manny Pacquiao, we had his trainer Freddie Roach on before your fight with Paul Williams and at the time, he mentioned how they were interested in the winner of Williams-Martinez for Pacquiao after the Margarito bout. But after you knocked out Williams his views changed. What do you think it was that changed Freddie’s mind? Do you think it was your performance or that he really believes Pacquiao is just too small?
MARTINEZ: It’s a very logical answer that Freddie Roach would say that. But no, I’m ready and I’m ready to fight the best. He is the best and I’m just ready to see what the future holds.
JENNA: As much as the fans want to see that fight between you and Pacquiao, in your honest opinion, do you think Pacquiao is too small to fight you even at a catch weight?
MARTINEZ: If he was able to fight Margarito and they agreed to a catch weight then that is something that I would definitely be interested in if he was able to do that for a rival like Margarito.
JENNA: Alright, well we’re also joined by my Co-Host Geoff.
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello Sergio. Congratulations on the victory and it’s great to have you back on the program.
MARTINEZ: Thank you so much. I’m very happy to be here.
CIANI: Great! Sergio I wanted to ask you first, this was the first time in years that you had a fight without Gaby Sarmiento in your corner. Did this affect your mindset at all during the course of the fight?
MARTINEZ: No, it actually hasn’t been the first time. It happened a couple of years ago when I was living in Spain. I work also with his brother. He has always been with me. The Sarmiento brothers have always been with me. Gaby is definitely my head trainer, but we all work together, we’re all on the same page, and we have a great chemistry. So no, that was not a problem at all.
CIANI: Now during the fight it seemed you were clearly dominating the fight through six rounds. You had scored a couple of knockdowns, but then in round seven that was Dzinziruk’s best round and it appeared maybe that you were starting to get a little tired and that he was perhaps working his way back into the fight. What was going through your mind at that time and were you getting tired in the ring?
MARTINEZ: No, I was not tired. At some point a great champion like Dzinziruk had to bring his best and that was the best Dzinziruk offered in round seven, but that was also a good round for me because I saw a lot of the mistakes he was making and I capitalized. In the seventh round, Dzinziruk showed all of his cards and all of his arsenal, and I was able to capitalize on that in the following round as you know. Of course it was not my best round, but then again it was a great round for me to see what his weaknesses were and I capitalized on that.
CIANI: When you caught him in the eighth round did you know you were going to stop him that round?
MARTINEZ: Yes, absolutely.
CIANI: Now Sergio, you said before that your dream was to become recognized as the number one pound-for-pound guy in the sport. You can mark one on y our ledger because right now I believe that you are pound-for-pound the best in the sport, but what I’m wondering is do you think you need to beat somebody like a Pacquiao or a Mayweather to be elevated to that position by the fans? Or do you think if you can continue to dominate if you are unable to land a fight like that, that you could still gain the recognition just through dominating your weight class?
MARTINEZ: Yes, absolutely I’m going to do whatever is necessary. If I got to take on this division and clear it out or even just take on the best fighters out there in my division. My goal is to be number one and if I don’t fight the fighters like Manny Pacquiao or Mayweather, then definitely I hope that is the case. I hope I get that number one ranking.
CIANI: If you had the chance to fight either one of them in your next fight, which one do you want?
MARTINEZ: Mayweather!
CIANI: Why Floyd?
MARTINEZ: Floyd Mayweather Junior is probably the best fighter in the world right now and the one that I admire most, personally. It would be an honor for me to fight him.
JENNA: Sergio, I want to get your views on some of the other champions in your weight class. What do you think of long time champion Felix Sturm?
MARTINEZ: Yeah, he’s a great champion. I would definitely love to fight him, but I could definitely beat him by knockout.
JENNA: What about the WBO belt holder Dmitry Pirog? What do you think of him?
MARTINEZ: He’s definitely a great fighter and he has a very strong punch. He still needs a couple of more fights to even be considered to fight me. I mean he needs to have more of a career. He hasn’t really fought anybody, so I’m definitely not interested in fighting him.
JENNA: Now Sergio, there is a title eliminator coming up April 8 featuring middleweight contender David Lemieux versus Marco Antonio Rubio. What are your thoughts on Lemieux and can you see him being a potential opponent down the road?
MARTINEZ: Yeah, it’s very hard to find especially right now in my career, it’s very hard to find fights for me. Nobody wants to fight me! So definitely it’s a possibility.
JENNA: You just mentioned it’s very hard for you to find fights for yourself. If you can’t find a proper fight at middleweight, would you ever consider going up to 168 if the money was right and the particular opponent was correct for you?
MARTINEZ: Sure, anything is possible. For the right money and the right opponent, I would definitely consider it. Sure!
CIANI: Speaking of super middleweights, when you look at the Super Six super middleweight tournament, who do you ultimately think will emerge as the winner?
MARTINEZ: I definitely feel that Andre Ward will win that tournament and is probably the best fighter in that tournament.
CIANI: You’re considered “old” in terms of age right now, but you seem to be getting better and better and it does appear that you are in your physical prime right now. When I look at a guy like Bernard Hopkins, who is of course ten years older than you, he’s 46. But he’s still fighting at an elite level right now. Do you think that you would be able to fight at a high level say to the age of 40?
MARTINEZ: Yeah, I don’t see myself fighting when I’m in my 40s. Definitely up until the day I decide to retire, I’m going to keep training hard and keep myself at the highest level.
JENNA: Alright well Sergio, we have just a couple of more questions before we get you off the line, and I’m a little curious, what do you think about the potential fight that’s coming up with Julio Cesar Chavez Junior and Sebastian Zbik for your former WBC belt?
MARTINEZ: I feel that it will be a very challenging fight for Chavez Junior. Zbik is the type of fighter who moves a lot so he’s going to give him a lot of problems. The thing is I feel all the cards are set up for Chavez to win, but it will be a very, very difficult fight for him.
JENNA: Is there any message you would like to pass along to fighters in the middleweight division? Some of the fighters that might not have been eager to get into the ring with you yet, but you want to entice them to get in the ring with you now?
MARTINEZ: If anybody is out there considering to fight me, especially this year, you’re going to fight the best Sergio Martinez. It’s the same thing as though me trying to fight a Mayweather or a Pacquiao. It’s an honor to fight fighters like that. So you should definitely train hard. You’re going to have that type of honor in that sense.
JENNA: Well I have one final question for you Sergio. Is there anything you want to say to all of your fans and supporters?
MARTINEZ: Thanks to all the fans and especially all the fans who supported me for this last fight. I love you guys and I promise to continue training hard and giving great performances like the one I did last Saturday. I want to give you all a big hug!
JENNA: Sergio, it has been an absolute pleasure having a chance to once again interview you. We thank you for your time and wish you all the best of luck in your future fights.
MARTINEZ: Thank you so much and I hope to talk to you again soon!
CIANI: Thanks Sergio!
MARTINEZ: Your welcome. Thank you.
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On the Ropes would like to give special thanks to Cecilio Flores for translating this interview.
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For those interested in listening to the Sergio Martinez interview in its entirety, it begins approximately one hour and fifty-six minutes into the program.
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