Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
Is it just me, but since when does a two round blow-out against a cold Paul Williams and unanimous points win over a man with many problems in his life (Kelly Pavlik), make you one of the best fighters on the planet?
People seem to forget that Martinez had never ventured into world class until he was 34 years old and to be a pound for pound fighter, you have to take on the best around and prove it with longevity or at least keep your unified titles by making mandatory defences.
In 2008, Martinez was still fighting four-rounders and in 2007, fought a man with 34 losses on his record. The year previously, Martinez fought Oliver Tchinda, who had one win in ten fights and certainly wasn’t a worthy opponent.
All this, for me, doesn’t help him in his quest to be recognised as a pound for pound best fighter in the world. I struggled to even rank him in the top 20 until earlier this year and some people in the boxing game had him ranked as one of the best in the world until Pacquiao beat Margarito, which is ridiculous. He's had two world title fights in thirteen years!
He needs to steadily prove his worth over a far more significant length of time and maybe even win world titles at different weights, but to just knock someone out with what could be considered, a once in a lifetime shot, doesn’t constitute greatness in my book and a win over a blown up light-middleweight in his last fight won't help his case.
In his first fight with Paul Williams, one judge had him losing by nine points, with another judge having it closer, but still in favour of Williams, so if you take away the punch, then Martinez never out-boxed Williams over any length of rounds, which he will have to do against the majority of other world-class middleweights, if he cant find that punch every time.
In a trip to the UK in 2003, Martinez was taken all the way by Richard Williams, who never made it past British-class and also went into the twelfth round with Adrian Stone four months later, who himself lost every time he stepped up to world class.
It seems to suggest to me that it could be another case of over-hyping a boxer because of an impressive one-off knockout punch. Martinez has two great wins on his record and I would always give him credit for that, but its the manor of the victories against the mind-set of the opponents that has me sceptical and the opposition prior and since that irks me.
A mass hysteria emerged about the fact that his beakthrough win was Paul Williams, but who knows where “The Punisher’s” head was at that moment. I think it was a one in a million shot and based on what I know, I can’t see Martinez staying champion for too long if he meets the best possible opposition out there, that’s just my opinion.
The middleweight division at the moment is probably one of the weakest around, a dominating win over Felix Sturm may go some way to making me a believer or at least pick up two of the titles at 160lbs in the next few months. The fact that with every option available to him, he chose to fight a light-middleweight in his latest contest will not change my view on Martinez and I would love to see a third meeting with Paul Williams to see if he could find that punch again.
Right now, Martinez is ranked at number six in WBN pound for pound rankings and I have to admit that placing him above sustained champions Wladimir Klitschko, Pongsaklek Wonjongakm and Chris John was a really tough decision, meaning that he, along with Floyd Mayweather, are the only two fighters in the top thirteen without a title.
The tough Argentinian still has things to prove for me and at 36, is running out of time to seal any sort of legacy.
We will see if he has time to prove me wrong.
WBN Editor
Is it just me, but since when does a two round blow-out against a cold Paul Williams and unanimous points win over a man with many problems in his life (Kelly Pavlik), make you one of the best fighters on the planet?
People seem to forget that Martinez had never ventured into world class until he was 34 years old and to be a pound for pound fighter, you have to take on the best around and prove it with longevity or at least keep your unified titles by making mandatory defences.
In 2008, Martinez was still fighting four-rounders and in 2007, fought a man with 34 losses on his record. The year previously, Martinez fought Oliver Tchinda, who had one win in ten fights and certainly wasn’t a worthy opponent.
All this, for me, doesn’t help him in his quest to be recognised as a pound for pound best fighter in the world. I struggled to even rank him in the top 20 until earlier this year and some people in the boxing game had him ranked as one of the best in the world until Pacquiao beat Margarito, which is ridiculous. He's had two world title fights in thirteen years!
He needs to steadily prove his worth over a far more significant length of time and maybe even win world titles at different weights, but to just knock someone out with what could be considered, a once in a lifetime shot, doesn’t constitute greatness in my book and a win over a blown up light-middleweight in his last fight won't help his case.
In his first fight with Paul Williams, one judge had him losing by nine points, with another judge having it closer, but still in favour of Williams, so if you take away the punch, then Martinez never out-boxed Williams over any length of rounds, which he will have to do against the majority of other world-class middleweights, if he cant find that punch every time.
In a trip to the UK in 2003, Martinez was taken all the way by Richard Williams, who never made it past British-class and also went into the twelfth round with Adrian Stone four months later, who himself lost every time he stepped up to world class.
It seems to suggest to me that it could be another case of over-hyping a boxer because of an impressive one-off knockout punch. Martinez has two great wins on his record and I would always give him credit for that, but its the manor of the victories against the mind-set of the opponents that has me sceptical and the opposition prior and since that irks me.
A mass hysteria emerged about the fact that his beakthrough win was Paul Williams, but who knows where “The Punisher’s” head was at that moment. I think it was a one in a million shot and based on what I know, I can’t see Martinez staying champion for too long if he meets the best possible opposition out there, that’s just my opinion.
The middleweight division at the moment is probably one of the weakest around, a dominating win over Felix Sturm may go some way to making me a believer or at least pick up two of the titles at 160lbs in the next few months. The fact that with every option available to him, he chose to fight a light-middleweight in his latest contest will not change my view on Martinez and I would love to see a third meeting with Paul Williams to see if he could find that punch again.
Right now, Martinez is ranked at number six in WBN pound for pound rankings and I have to admit that placing him above sustained champions Wladimir Klitschko, Pongsaklek Wonjongakm and Chris John was a really tough decision, meaning that he, along with Floyd Mayweather, are the only two fighters in the top thirteen without a title.
The tough Argentinian still has things to prove for me and at 36, is running out of time to seal any sort of legacy.
We will see if he has time to prove me wrong.