Sergio Martinez put in another marvelous performance last night, defeating a very able Darren Barker. There was plenty of contact, and although Martinez was in control for the most part, “Dazzling” Darren never quit, scored well and frequently, and put on a valiant display en route to an 11th Round knockout defeat. So what comes next for the contestants, and “Maravilla” in particular?
Barker Got Noticed
Even though Barker ended the night on the canvas, his stock went up dramatically in defeat. The Briton was unranked going into the fight, and was rated as an underdog on the betting circuit, in some cases a 14 to 1 underdog. As I’ve been saying since the day betting opened on Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson I, a man has to be in a wheelchair to justify 14 to 1 odds, so suffice it to say only a handful of fans outside of the UK know anything about Barker.
That changed last night, and with his active, crowd-pleasing style, I’m sure we will see more of Darren Barker in the near future. Boxing is replete with examples of guys for whom losing a high-profile fight in entertaining fashion led to bigger and better things, including grabbing a world title.
Showdown With Chavez Doubtful
Fight fans will remember that although Sergio Martinez is the top dog at middleweight and the #3 Pound for Pound boxer on the planet, he is not a “real” middleweight champion at the moment. The WBC scandalously stripped Martinez of the normal title so Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. could ease into a championship, giving Martinez its “Diamond Championship” instead.
As “Diamond Champion,” Martinez ostensibly reserves the right to challenge Chavez for the regular title at any time, but it is hard to see Chavez, Jr.’s camp or the WBC accepting such a challenge. If Chavez had wanted a fight with Maravilla, he could have challenged for the title when Maravilla was carrying it over his shoulder. He didn’t, and he isn’t exactly clamoring to fight Martinez now either. I also doubt the WBC would look kindly on Martinez forcing this issue, and if push came to shove, Jose Sulaiman would back his cronies (the Chavez family) and find a way to stymie Martinez. So, don’t look for Martinez vs. Chavez any time soon.
Stalking the Super Six?
If Sergio Martinez were looking for a big fight, he could always move up to 168 lbs and seek a confrontation with the winner of the Super Six tournament. However, I doubt this will happen any time soon. While Martinez’s promoter Lou DiBella was a participant in the Super Six, neither Andre Ward or Carl Froch is part of his stable. Furthermore, Martinez is an HBO fighter, while all of the Super Six action is taking place on Showtime, and Lucian Bute seems to have a shot at the winner of the tournament locked up already.
Martinez could angle for a shot at the winner of the showdown with Bute, but even if all the promotional difficulties were eliminated, such a move looks like plain bad matchmaking. The Barker fight reminded us that Sergio Martinez is on the small side for a middleweight, and fought at 154 lbs until 2009. Martinez was 34 when he started for middleweight, so he isn’t getting any bigger. At 168 lbs, Martinez would be giving away a substantial size advantage to most opponents, so I can’t see him making this move so long as he has options at 160 lbs.
Other Middleweight Contenders
If Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. is too chicken to fight Sergio Martinez, plenty of other options remain in the middleweight division. My bets are on Marco Antonio Rubio or Matthew Macklin. Rubio supposedly has a shot at the WBC title, but given the promotional difficulties, there is cause to believe that shot will never come about and Rubio might wind up looking elsewhere for a big fight.
Frankly, I wouldn’t put it past Jose Sulaiman to make Rubio and Martinez — both of whom have an ironclad claim on a WBC title shot — face each other for #1 contender status and then allow Chavez to postpone giving the winner that title shot for a couple of years. The odds are much better that Lou DiBella and Oswaldo Kuchle can cut a deal to face each other, WBC strap or no, than either promoter coming to a satisfactory arrangement with both the WBC and Bob Arum.
Matthew Macklin, on the other hand, was recently robbed in his title shot against Felix Sturm. As with Barker, an impressive loss often catapults a fighter into another big fight, even more so when the loss was a questionable stinker to boot. Greasing the wheels still further is the fact that Martinez and Macklin are both promoted by DiBella, so the only obstacle for putting these two men in the ring is finding the money. If HBO likes Macklin, this fight will happen in the near future.
As for the rest of the middleweight Top 10, one thing or another makes a shot at Martinez look doubtful. Some contenders, like Daniel Geale and Dmitry Pirog, recently grabbed their first world title. While they may go for a shot at Martinez in the middle term, I can’t see them taking such a risky fight before making a title defense or two. Other guys, like Sturm, prior opponent Paul Williams, Sebastian Sylvester or Sebastian Zbik, all have recent career blemishes that need clearing before HBO would agree to pay for putting them in the ring with Martinez.
The result is I’m looking for Martinez vs. Macklin or Martinez vs. Rubio to be announced in the near future, and either fight will be a fun one to watch.
