Who’s the pound-for-pound best fighter today? Is it Manny Pacquiao? Floyd Mayweather? Or is it Sergio Martinez?
“In my opinion a valid argument can be made for all three so let’s just number them 1A, 1B and 1C,” said the promoter of Sergio Martinez, Lou DiBella. “But I sure would like to see them prove who the best is inside the ring and Sergio is ready to concede his weight advantage to do it.”
“If Manny is willing to defend his WBC super welterweight title, I would come down to 154 pounds to challenge him for it as well as allow him to challenge me for my WBC middleweight title,” says Martinez. “It would be the opportunity of a lifetime. But I’m a realist and if he feels that he is physically too small to fight me I certainly understand that too.”
“Sergio is willing to fight next at 154 pounds — defending his WBC middleweight title as well as fighting for the WBC super welterweight title which would be vacated by Manny Pacquiao. That’s a pretty big concession, but if that’s what it takes to get Floyd Mayweather Jr., the WBC’s emeritus super welterweight champion, in the ring with him, Sergio is ready, willing and able. There is a lot of confidence behind his matinee looks,” continued DiBella. “The fans deserve Martinez vs. Mayweather and boxing needs it to continue its growth into the mainstream. I can work with any promoter to make the best fight with Sergio. It’s business – good business – and common sense.”
Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KOs), a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who trains in Oxnard, Calif., is 30-1-1 over the past 10 years, with his lone blemish, a highly disputed majority decision loss to Williams last December – a loss that was avenged via the knockout of the year last Saturday in front of millions of HBO viewers. Martinez is scheduled to be sitting ringside with DiBella on Saturday at the MGM Grand for the HBO tripleheader featuring WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto’s title defense against Freddy Hernandez; WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez’s title defense against Michael Katsidis; and the 10-round rumble between Celestino Caballero and Jason Litzau.
Pacquiao has expressed some possible interest in facing Martinez in the future. Mayweather has refused to comment about the idea of boxing Pacquiao or Martinez in 2011, effectively withdrawing himself from any pound-for-pound discussions.