by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – Last week’s 136th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio(brought to you by CWH Promotions) featured an exclusive interview with reigning middleweight king Sergio Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KOs) who is scheduled to face Darren Barker (23-0, 14 KOs) on October 1 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Martinez spoke about his upcoming fight and also shared opinions on various other topics pertaining to the currentboxing landscape, including Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Junior, Paul Williams, the Super Six, and more! Here is a complete transcript from that interview:
JENNA J: Let’s move to our fourth and final guest of this week’s show, one that I’m proud to have return to our program. He is the reigning middleweight champion of the world. We are joined by Sergio Martinez.
SERGIO MARTINEZ: Hello! How are youguys doing? This is Sergio!
JENNA: I’m doing very well Sergio. Well you have a title defense coming up on October 1 against Darren Barker, an undefeated fighter from the UK. Can you tell us a little bit more about your opponent?
MARTINEZ: Every English fighter I ever fought, and he’s a very typical of British fighters, they’re tough fighters! They come to fight and I know he’s definitely going to come and try to keep that undefeated record. I’ll definitely be ready to go.
JENNA: Alright now the fact that Barker is undefeated but relatively unknown kind of makes this a no-lose scenario for him. Does that make him a dangerous opponent for you?
MARTINEZ: Yeah you know he is going to be the same rival Dzinziruk. I mean nobody knew Dzinziruk, and as you can see that was a very tough fight for me. I believe that will be the same case for this fight.
JENNA: Okay now Sergio, this opponent was chosen because others would not meet you in the ring, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Junior. How disappointing is it for you to not get those marquee names?
MARTINEZ: It’s a shame. A European champion needs to come to the States and challenge me, and it’s only the boxing fans and the American fans who are losing on that, but these fights need to be made.
JENNA: Now Sergio, what do you think it’s going to take for you to get those marquee names to want to fight you?
MARTINEZ: I need to continue doing what I’m doing. I need to keep fighting and I need to keep fighting the best and in due time, these rivals have to fight me! There will be a point where they’re going to have to fight me. I want to be the guy that I want them to come and try to beat. So it’s all a matter of time.
JENNA: Great! Well Sergio, we’re also on the line with my Co-Host Geoff Ciani.
MARTINEZ: It’s my pleasure to be on your show. Thank you very much.
CIANI: Thank you. Now you mentioned that you think it will happen eventually in time, but do you think that either Pacquiao or Mayweather would be willing to fight you before they first fought each other so that they don’t risk that payday that’s been looming for them for so long?
MARTINEZ: You know I got to keep hope alive. I hope they fight me first. I don’t know, but with wishful thinking I am hoping they choose to fight me first.
CIANI: Now one of the criticisms that you’ve been receiving from fans on the message boards, is I see a lot of people saying that since you expect Pacquiao and Mayweather to move up and fight you that you should be equally willing to step up to 168 to fight some of the better guys up there. I’m just curious what do you think of these views from certain fans?
MARTINEZ: No, I mean just to keep it clear I never said to Pacquiao or Mayweather to come up to my weight at 160 pounds. No! I never said that! What I said in the past is hey, let’s make an agreement! Let’s do a catch weight or let’s fight at 154 pounds for a 154 pound title. Now fans are asking me to come up in weight. Well that would be crazy for me to go up to 168 pounds. Now if Arthur Abraham or Andre Ward want to meet me at a catch weight of 164 pounds and the money is right, I’d be willing to do that. But I never said hey Mayweather, hey Pacquiao, come up to 160 pounds. I never said that! I’m hoping to do a catch weight. The lowest I can make is 154 pounds. The highest as of right now in my career would be 164 pounds if the money is right.
CIANI: Back to your upcoming fight against Darren Barker, you’ve scored two impressive stoppage victories in your last two fights against guys who had never previously been stopped. Is that the plan going into this training camp this time? To work on scoring another knockout victory against a man who’s never been knocked out?
MARTINEZ: First of all my plan is to fight a very intelligent fight, and if the knockout comes up and the knockout’s available, then I’m definitely going to take advantage of that and knock him out.
CIANI: What do you think your biggest advantage is going into this fight?
MARTINEZ: Probably the most important advantage that I have would be the experience, and I have a great training camp and I prepare myself very well. But my experience will probably be my biggest advantage.
JENNA: Alright now Sergio, to most people’s accounts you haven’t really lost a fight since you lost to Antonio Margarito earlier in your career. For an opponent facing you, what do you think they need to do to beat you?
MARTINEZ: Well I fought a very close fight against Paul Williams
. You can say hey I lost that fight or it was a draw or I won, but I think the keys to victory would be to be well prepared, to really prepare yourself and train really hard outside the ring. A lot of fighters get distracted or have a lot of different things that come up, but that would be the thing—to beat me in the gym.
JENNA: Alright well you mentioned Paul Williams for a second, and he recently had a controversial win against Erislandy Lara and he called you out after the match. Would you at all be interested in a third with him or would you be looking to have a different opponent after you fight Darren Barker?
MARTINEZ: You know everybody saw that fight and I saw the same fight and I feel the same way as everybody feels. Yes, he did lose that fight. It was very clear, and I don’t want to sound arrogant or whatever, but no I don’t think a third fight would be necessary. Talk is cheap, and he’s not at that level any more. For him to call out my name like that, he has to call out my name because he still wants to stay at that level which he is not. So I don’t think that fight would be necessary for me to fight him.
JENNA: Okay well there is another fighter out there that you’ve had interest in getting into the ring with. He was ranked number one for a long time and now he holds your former WBC middleweight title, and that’s Julio Cesar Chavez Junior. He says he’ll be willing to fight you early next year. Do you believe that will actually be the case?
MARTINEZ: I believe 110% in the WBC. I believe they’ll do whatever is necessary to make this fight possible. On the other case, I don’t believe in Chavez Junior because I don’t think he’ll show up. Hopefully if this fight happens he shows up, and he doesn’t no-show me.
CIANI: Sergio you spoke about Paul Williams before and he’s a fighter that doesn’t seem to be the same since you fought him, and another fighter who doesn’t seem the same since you fought him is Kelly Pavlik. I’m wondering if you think he ever will be the same again?
MARTINEZ: You know history shows all my rivals that I’ve fought haven’t been the same, you know from Bunema, Kermit Cintron, Paul Williams. I’m hoping that he’s been able to train hard and really actually gotten better. We’ll have to see.
CIANI: Now you mentioned earlier you might be willing to face somebody like Andre Ward at a catch weight of 164. I’m wondering, if Pacquiao and Mayweather never come around, would you be interested in facing the winner of the Super Six Final matchup between Andre Ward and Carl Froch?
MARTINEZ: Yes, you know anything is possible. Definitely we would have to negotiate and I would definitely be interested in a catch weight. We will wait and see.
JENNA: Alright well Sergio we just have a few more questions before we let you off the line. Since you’re 36 years old, a lot of fans contend that if you somehow lose to Barker that it could spell the end of your career. Do you think if that scenario did play out that way, that it would be the end for you?
MARTINEZ: (laughs) No, that doesn’t even cross my mind. I’m not going to lose against Darren Barker. My goal is to become champion at 160 pounds for the WBC and to be pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world.
JENNA: Sergio from what you’re saying some fans might actually get the impression that you’re underestimating Darren Barker. Do you think you could at all possibly do that?
MARTINEZ: I never underestimate any of my fighters. I take all my fighters very seriously and all my fights. I’m ranked number two pound-for-pound in the world, and my job is to continue to become the best and to have a great fight for my fans.
JENNA: Alright well Sergio you’re 36 years old now and some fans contend that the fighters like Mayweather and Pacquiao are actually waiting for you to get a little bit older and show signs of decline before they would get into the ring with you. Do you believe that may be the case why they haven’t faced you at this point?
MARTINEZ: Yeah that’s definitely a possibility. I’m pretty sure that’s probably what their intentions are. I mean Pacquiao is fighting everybody that’s either 36, or 37, or 38, and it’s the same thing with Mayweather, besides taking on Ortiz. A lot of his opponents are really much older so that might be the case.
JENNA: Okay now you mentioned Mayweather’s opponent Victor Ortiz. That fight’s coming up in September and obviously you’d be interested in the winner of it, but do you think a fighter like Victor Ortiz who’s young and hungry would actually have a good shot of upsetting Floyd Mayweather Junior?
MARTINEZ: Yeah Ortiz has the ability to make a great fight, but I believe Mayweather will win the fight with ease and he’ll be victorious.
JENNA: Well I have just two more questions. With the fight with Darren Barker I want to get your official prediction. How does it play out?
MARTINEZ: I’m going to look for the knockout, I’m going to work hard, and I’m going to get it before the sixth round.
JENNA: Okay and finally, is there anything you want to say to the fans that are going to come out to go see you in Atlantic City?
MARTINEZ: Yes everybody is invited to come out to Atlantic City to Boardwalk Hall. It’s going to be a great fight. It will be the best fight of my career, so please come out and check it out and if you can’t make it tune in to HBO. It’s going to be one of my best fights, so thank you.
JENNA: Alright well Sergio it’s been a pleasure having you on the show yet again. Thank you for your time and we’re looking forward to seeing you in the ring on October 1.
MARTINEZ: Likewise, thank you very much. You know how to find me, so definitely any time you want me to be on the show give me a call.
CIANI: Thanks Sergio! Best of luck.
MARTINEZ: Thank you very much. Thank you!
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On the Ropes Boxing Radio 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 twenty minutes into the program.
RIGHT CLICK and ‘SAVE AS’ TO DOWNLOAD EPISODE #136
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This article was also published August 8, 2011 at East Side Boxing
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This is crazy sergio, you are saying now that you are not telling pacquiao to go to your present weight of 160 and that the lowest you can go is 154. How can you expect pacquiao to fight you at 154 when his weight class is 147? And now you are saying you will not go up to 168, why do you think pacquiao will go up to 154? Its really crazy sergio! If you want a big payday and to become #1 p4p, you have to make some sacrifice, go dow n to 147 and you have a fight with pacquiao. If not, forget targeting pacquiao.
Coward. He’s like the other.
Pirog inform and challenged him
He’s scared
He pretended Pirog never did
But he’s scared
Ya
Well he expects to fight pacquiao at 154 simply bcuz he fought margarito for the 154 WBC title and when its all said n done margarito weight 16 more pounds on the fight so pacquiao actually fought a full middle weight while on the day of the fight pacquiao weighted 150 so why not fight martinez, martinez is a way better fight than bradley, ortiz, berto, or the fighters that he already fought such as clottey, mosely, which were sucky boring fights
after the margarito fight, pac said he will not fight again more than 147 pounds, he felt that it is too much, just like serg wont go up on 168, but, by looking on their body frames, pac really cant go again to jr middleweight, how about serg? if we look at his body frame, he can go up….. he’s not willing to go 168 lbs, but 164, if the price is right, he will, do or die, he will accept it cause he’s getting older and he must get his huge payday.. that’s the crazy bullshit ideas that is running around his head, “HUGE PAYDAY”….
he shouldfight lucian bute…it’s a good fight for him.he should stop calling small fighter
Sergio is a bumbling fool if he thinks he can make people stupid by believing his words!
What makes him think that it is good for Pacquiao to go up to 154 and fight him when Pacquiao have never fought weighing over 150 yet he is unwilling to go up 8lbs higher considering he is a bigger man than Pacquiao?
The truth is, he is calling both fighters just to have a good payday with lesser risk!
come fight night pacquiao would be weighing at most 151lbs while martinez would easily balloon to 170lbs. that’s an almost 20lb advantage. you call that fair?
this guy is dreaming impossible no shame,i never been impress for him never,lot more good fighter than him……..
what a jerk’…..he’s afraid to go up 1 division higher than his fighting weight’….can u recall how many weight divisions pacman did?……it’s a full 10 weight divisions, from lightfly to welterweight…discounting the lightmiddle of 154, coz he only weighs 148lbs during fight night against 165lb margarito, thus giving away a 17lb advantage to his opponent that night’…….talk about taking risk’….ok u did 147, 154, and now 160…..but afraid to go 168 to fight better fighters on that division…..man up sergio’….twilight is near your legacy is at stake’….don’t do a SHAME MOSTLY’…………..
Martinez is a joke! He is asking more money for his coming retirement! Near 40 is a very discouraging especially no coming big fights are sealed and secured. He should take down first one-by-one. First, a rematch against Antonio Margarito. Second, fight against Chavez Jr. Third, Dream fight against Cotto. Fifth, Pacquiao or Mayweather in Welterweight Division.
why don’t he challenge again margarito? or maybe his afraid that margarito will again knock him down brutally like their first meeting….hahaha im sure he still hunted those nightmares, what a poor loserhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p4SHbkoKic
The right thing for you Martinez is to create your name in the division you belong. Stop dreaming to fight Manny Pacquiao to which he can’t go up to 154lbs. Floydie can easily make 154lbs, so you chase him.
Hey Sergio!!!! would you just stop this bs??? you said 160 is the highest you can go… well 147 is the highest pacquiao and mayweather can go… so stop asking them to fight at 154…people are starting to think you are stupid,,,
martinez is afraid to go out of his comfort zone, he wants the little guys to go up in weight and he wants the big guys to go down just to fight him. I say that’s a load of crap, he doesn’t have the balls to fight the best, he is just a hustler who wants to fight only when he has all the advantages. he will never get any big-money fights unless he takes a risk, he will just fight bums and nobodys and fool himself thinking he is the best
Pacquiao weighs in at 144lbs. Mayweather’s heaviest weigh in was at 150lbs against Oscar. Pacquiao’s fight night weight is between 147-148lbs. Mayweather’s claimed fight night weight is 152-153lbs. I don’t know how much he weighed on fight night against Oscar. If Sergio Martinez comes in at 154lbs, how big will he rehydrate to during fight night? 164-170lbs? That wouldn’t exactly be pound for pound material. It will just be a really huge good fighter against really really small great fighters.
you’ll go crying into the sunset, sergio, without a big payday. so let your big nose get smashed by bute or pirog and settle for 100,000 dollars, iho!
as pacquiao says he is not stupid. you’re the one very, very stupid to keep hoping he’ll fight you; you’re nothing but a blabber dreaming of big money!
“Well that would be crazy for me to go up to 168 pounds” but it’s not crazy for Pac and Floyd to bloat and accommodate him at 154 lbs. to earn him big purse? Maybe boxing is taking its’ toll on Sergio’s head! Why not Martinez make his fights a lot more interesting by challenging fighters north is weight and create his own niche in the market within his weight level and not pick on the midgets to earn himself juicy purse?
if pacquiao and mayweather can come up 1 weight up (154 lbs).
then whats wrong with moving up to 168 lbs.? JMM even moved up 2 weights
for the G_d sake.
He said that both paquiao and mayweather fight some oldies but he said ortiz wont stand the chance against mayweather…
My point is if they fight an opponent with 30+ yrs old, he will say they fight aging boxers, if they fight a young and hungry fighter, he will say that the young fighter has no chance because of lack of experience?
no disrespect mr. Martinez but listen to yourself. what if Manny Pacquiao did the same and said something like “HEY ORLANDO SALIDO (FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMP) YOU COWARD! FIGHT ME, I’M NOT SAYING THAT YOU SHOULD GO UP TO 147, LET’S MEET AT 140 AND FIGHT ME.” now how does that sound to you Mr. Martinez? Does that sound like a legacy builder? How would Manny Pacquiao look like when fans hear him say this to a featherweight champion?
why is it that pacquiao was NOT too small to fight margarito at 154? all martinez is asking is a fight at a catchweight, something pacquiao has become very good at. besides, martinez is smaller than margarito so little packy doesn’t have a legit excuse to duck once again a prime dangerous fighter. isn’t it funny that once pacquiao beat margarito for the 154 title, he heard martinez calling him out and he quickly claimed he was going down to 147 because he claims he is too small for 154! a prime dangerous fighter like martinez calls him out and pacquiao quickly vacates that title? where’s the warrior in pacquiao? i thought he would take on ALL OPPONENTS, anytime, anywhere? etc…and by the way, isn’t pacquiao doing the same thing by facing marquez, a true lightweight, at 144 which is at welterweight? oh the hypocrisy little packy. you’re more of a fraud than i thought. little packy, man up and stop being a coward and a cherrypicker.
No problem but Paquiao fights without gloves on.
pacheco did pacquiao weight at 154lbs? that was a catchweight 151 pounder you moron.. uneducated mauel pacheco, youre a bitter. because all your mexicans chumps are been knockdown by pacman.. moron
its funny how martinez states his case with a straight face while actually looking for tremendous advantages with his height and heft. with his longer reach and longer strides he will not engage pacquiao in a firefight but will still be running around all night sniping and running IN AND OUT sniping and running – - – running and sniping with his longer reach and longer strides he’ll be sniping and running and hope to get a lucky shot and when that fails he’ll keep run and snipe. THAT IS THE EXTENT OF SERGIO’S TALENT.
martinez knows pacquiao never weighed more than 151 lbs on fight night in any of his fights while he’ll blow himself up10+ lbs on fight night. he may ask why pacquiao fought margarito and not him, you see everybody knows margarito comes to fight and not run like sergio.
stupid mother f*cker sergio martinez. has he even reached the 500,000 mark on ppv? even 300k?? afraid to go up 1 division higher and he is in the p4p list? shut up and f*ck you g*ylover teddy atlas. manny and money should face each other not this stupid b*tch martinez.
Catch weight, then what? Then haters are gonna be calling Pacquiao the catch weight king! He never asked for the catch weight. It’s these bigger guys wanting a shot at the p4p king. Manny would fight guys his weight but there’s no one left worth fighting!
well, we can see the difference between a good fighter and a great fighter. S. Martinez is a good fighter while Pacquiao is a great fighter. Pacquiao doesn’t talk too much, he just fights whoever is placed in front of him.
Sergio can go down to 154 and can only go up to 164, and he wants Pacquiao or Mayweather to go up 154. Is it fair to think that you can go up only 4 lbs and you want your Pacquiao/Mayweather to go up 7lbs? (that really means the Pacquiao/Mayweather are great and you are only good). Pacquiao/Mayweather can go below to 140 meaning you have an equal ability of going down in weight. Also remember the lowest weight you came from Remeber that Pacquiao came from as low as 106 and Floyd jr at 130 and Sergio at 147… SEE THE DIFFERENCE??? I think Paul Williams has more balls than Sergio, before Paul was willing to go down to 147 to fight PAcquiao until he lost to Sergio.
fuckcheco a pachater a gayweather lover pure of enviuos poor mexican boxing fan
Another attention seeker..Martinez if you need attention and more money the simple thing you do is go down to the weight of Pacman..not to shout to the world that you are willing to fight him at 154..what would Pacman gain from you by fighting you at your weight?you knocked one guy and became the best fighter of the year?common man use your imagination what would Pacman gain from you?but you will have much to gain if you defeat the Pacman…not only $$$$ much of these but the guts…
Sergio Martinez just want a huge payday that’s why he is calling Pacman and Little Floyd . Sergio Martinez is not a draw .poor guy begging for a big payday.. If i were you Sergio act nicely and be humble. you only beats Paul williams and kelly Pavlik and you are acting like you are the greatest..lol..Oh well just like Pacheco a crybaby..lol
What are you saying? you can only weigh in around 154-164 lbs and that you may challenge Ward and the rest at supermiddleweight on a catchweight of 164lbs? I’ve never heard or read any article that you are calling the names of these guys at 168 lbs to fight you at a catchweight of164 lbs?!, All you are blabbering about is about a fight with either Pacquiao and Mayweather.
The Pac fought only once in the 154 title but on a catchweight of 151 lbs, he hardly made it with a weight of 147 (which is his fighting weight) and on fight night he is around 150. the thing is there is a difference on the weight-in and on the fight night weight, you Martinez may probably be 154 lbs on a day before but on fight night you will probably exceed the 165 -pound mark, yet you are trying to lure them on that weight?
You are the one challenging them and calling their names, let alone that you dont even have the leverage to do so on these 2 guys, they are the 2 best pound for pound in the world so you should be the one going down to their weight regardless of what. fight them at their best not at your advantage.
Pacquiao is at his best fighting form at 144-145 lbs though.
I personally think that Pacman can beat Sergio Martinez but it’s a big risk because of the weights
gap, Pacman barely maximize the welterweight limit of 147lbs and even at a catchweight of 154
there will be so much difference in weights during fight night maybe he will be around 165 to 175lbs. Fight the best on your own weight class and onwards to cement your own legacy.
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