-Looking at a Potential Manny Pacquiao vs. Sergio Martinez Middleweight Championship Fight-
If Manny Pacquiao looks impressive against Antonio Margarito, and Sergio Martinez can get past Paul Williams and keep the Middleweight title, will Pacquiao and his team consider trying for a 9th title in 9 weight classes?
Next month on consecutive Saturdays, Manny Pacquiao will go for his 8th world title in 8 divisions against Antonio Margarito, and Sergio Martinez will defend the Middleweight title against Paul Williams in their much anticipated rematch. I believe Pacquiao will win his fight, even though I expect Margarito will give a solid performance. I expect a comfortable points win for Pacquiao, but what happens if Pacquiao dominates Margarito? That’s where things get very interesting.
Even though Martinez and Williams will be focusing on their fight, they are both going to have a keen eye on what happens the week before. It’s no secret Williams has basically spent the last year looking for a Pacquiao fight. Even though Martinez has been less vocal, he wants the fight. Essentially everyone from 140 lbs – 154 lbs calls out Pacquiao after their fights. Martinez vs. Williams I was fantastic, and I expect the rematch could be even better. I give the slightest of edges to Martinez. Not knowing the next time Mayweather will fight again, I will make the winner of Martinez-Williams II, the number 2 boxer in the sport.
Even though it’s possible that Williams and Martinez could have a 3rd fight and Pacquiao could fight Cotto next year, the question is whether a dominant victory by Pacquiao would be enough to convince him to go for the Middleweight title against Sergio Martinez.
It’s unbelievable that Pacquiao could fight for the Middleweight title. It wasn’t too long ago when Pacquiao jumped from lightweight to welterweight to fight Oscar De La Hoya, and Paul Williams said Oscar was going to pound Pacquiao, because the difference in height and strength was too much. Margarito wanted a De La Hoya fight, but Oscar chose to fight Pacquiao instead, which caused Margarito to rip De La Hoya for fighting a man too small for him, when a guy his size was standing right in front of him. Ironically, now Williams has been trying to get a fight against Pacquiao and Margarito is going to fight the “little man.”
The catch weight for Pacquiao-Margarito is 150 pounds, and I’m interested to see what Pacquiao’s weight will be the night of the fight. I don’t think weight plays a huge factor in fights unless fighters have extreme advantages, like a 15-20 lb. difference between the fighters on fight night. If Pacquiao is about 154 on fight night against Margarito and knocks him down or wins almost every round, I don’t see a big difference with him fighting Martinez at the catch weight of 155 lbs and Pacquiao maybe coming in at 158 lbs on fight night.
As I’ve said before, I think a Pacquiao win leads to Pacquiao-Cotto II, but if Martinez beats Williams, a fight between Martinez and Pacquiao will probably be the best fight that can be made in the sport at the time. I don’t want to get too far ahead, because Williams could easily beat Martinez and mess up the possibility. I’m hoping that Martinez wins and I can spend next spring or summer talking about Pacquiao vs Martinez for the Middleweight Crown and the Pound for Pound Title.
