By Superstar Billy Graham
It appears Lou DiBella, Sergio Martinez’s promoter has made it known that his ward middleweight champion Sergio Martinez will not be facing Manny Pacquiao mainly due to his size. Sergio and Lou will not budge on a 147 lb contract weight if they desire to face Manny Pacquiao. Bob Arum, the Czar promoter of Manny Pacquiao will not let his #1 fighter face an even bigger fighter Sergio Martinez at 154 lbs (light middleweight), putting Manny Pacquiao against bigger fighters is really pushing the envelope and Bob Arum will not subject his prize fighter against such a bigger foe. Sergio Martinez has made it known he will not fight at 147. He also realizes and understands Manny Pacquiao is too small. However, Lou DiBella says Sergio not facing Manny is due to obvious size advantage but also superior skills. The Superstar agrees with Lou DiBella about Sergio obvious size advantage but as far as skills, Martinez does not possess better boxing skills than Manny, not even close. If they were both the same size, Manny would easily beat Sergio, it wouldn’t be a close contest. Sergio is often punching off balance. His knockout of Paul Williams, it was very impressive but it was mainly due to Paul Williams careless defense. His right arm was on his side so his chin was totally exposed while he was flailing his left hand. Paul walked right into to a full powered left hand punch from Sergio Martinez.
If you go back to Sergio Martinez’s previous fight with Kelly Pavlik, he was so much quicker than poor flat footed Kelly Pavlik. However, Pavlik was giving some serious licks on Sergio and managed to get a knock down on Sergio. But that knockdown was mainly due to Sergio throwing an off balanced punch that Kelly Pavlik managed to hit Sergio with a not so fierce shot but Sergio losing his balance. Throughout the fight Kelly Pavlik was able to hit Sergio quite often and with more power, but Sergio’s stamina, foot speed, and faster hands finally took over in the final 3 rounds. Before the 9th Kelly Pavlik was winning the fight, but Sergio with his quick hand speed was able to slice open Kelly Pavlik’s face and blood began pouring out. At that point, Kelly Pavlik couldn’t recover. But observing the whole fight, it is alarming to see how off balance Sergio is when he throws a punch. There are still fundamental problems with Sergio Martinez’s boxing. Being off balance will deprive of power and against Manny, it will only make Manny realize he can trade and hurt Sergio because he so off balance when he throws a punch and out of position. And that’s when Sergio will get hit with multiple combinations. Trainer Freddie Roach has done a superb job on making Manny Pacquiao a balanced fighter. Manny hits with balance and with his strong legs especially his large calves, the delivery of his punch often comes with power.
As far as defense, Sergio’s defense is basically getting on his bicycle. Manny’s defense is covering himself and but doesn’t often protect himself from jabs and uppercuts. Sergio’s hands are often on his side and that will be his undoing if he faces against the fastest hands in boxing. Manny’s hand speed is superior to Sergio, and if Sergio continues to pull that kind of stunt of his hand and arms at the side of his body, it will spell disaster for him against a fast and accurate puncher like Manny Pacquiao. Against Pavlik, Sergio’s arms are often on his side, and he can not do that with Manny who’s superior foot and hand speed will be to quick for Sergio to quickly cover himself. So if the two were ever to meet, and of equal size, Manny would be a way to skilled and too strong opponent for Martinez. However, Sergio’s size is way too big of an obstacle even for the pound for pound champion of the world to overcome. Sergio at light middleweight, it will be close but Sergio can hurt Manny to the point it may be too hard to overcome. However, Sergio going down to welterweight would be too hard for Sergio and it will certainly affect his stamina and power. After rehydrating, Sergio can not afford to rehydrate to 170 which will spell disaster for him. And the advantage will certainly go to Manny. A 23 lb gain is alarmingly to much for Sergio to overcome. To large of a weight gain will affect the speed. However at 154 lbs, rehydrating to 170 lbs is less significant. Overall, Manny is way too skilled of a boxer. Balance is the key and if you watch Sergio Martinez’s fight, he is often caught off balanced.
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