atschatschatsch You honestly think Martinez can fight at SMW? Seriously. No Martinez should stay at MW, there is no point for him to fight at SMW, all the boxers there are so much bigger then him, and they hit harder too, especially Bute. And I just watched Martinez vs Pavlik, he looked much smaller then Pavlik.
Martinez is one of the best fighters in the world. He performs at A- level. Bute, at his best, performs at B+ level. Martinez is more versatile and intelligent than Bute. He can fight outside and inside, unlike Bute. What Bute has on him are power, size and maybe strength too. Bute wouldn't know how to use his strength advantage against Martinez, and Martinez knows how to negate it anyway. Martinez would also negate Bute's power advantage. The thing hardest to negate is size, because Bute has good, fast footwork and would move around the ring fast. But Martinez is quicker. Bute doesn't have a good jab. Martinez has great defence. Bute doesn't. Martinez could come inside and catch Bute flush. Bute couldn't keep the fight on the outside where he MIGHT have an advantage. Bute would have to KO him to the body as he was coming in to win or at least he'd have to go in looking to blow Martinez out of the water with power punches to the body. Could Bute do it. Sure he can... but I think Martinez, strange as it may appear off the bat, would be the slight favourite! (I wouldn't have thought this of the pre-Pavlik Martinez. Last night's performance convinced me of this...)
You do realize that Bute defense is better than that of Williams , that Bute is not as slow as Pavlik (he has better hands speed and better footwork) , and that Martinez has been caught flush against Williams(in both fights) but the power was missing , right ?
Just because Bute didn't had opponents worthy to reveal his A game doesn't means he doesn't have one. What makes you sure you've seen Bute at his best?
Bute would definitely present more problems than Pavlik and Williams, yes. Martinez would not be able to walk all over Bute. He would also adjust his game to take account of Bute's power. Bute isn't able to perform at A level yet. He has some very serious, big flaws. There's less than a dozen fighters who perform at A- or better... Bute isn't one of them.
During Pavlik's hype mania, Pavlik is prospecting to wipe out the super middleweight division. Heck, pavlik even fought a light heavy in the form of Bernard Hopkins, which gained Bernard full credit. The Maravilla beats Pavlik any weight. Martinez' reach is super middle standard. Hence, i don't see a problem The Maravilla going up one weight above, especially noticing how thick his body mass has been , and the key point of his success the past 2 fights.
i dont think his size (or lack of) or power will translate up 2 weightclasses from his natural class.... he may do well vs B-class fighters but against the top elites in the Super6, he'd lose against them....
Against Pavlik, who has power, Martinez was staying on the outiside. He would do the same against Bute because the Romanian likes to fight at mid-range. That would be the dangerous spot for Martinez. Martinez power would not be sufficient at 168 to trouble Bute. IMO, Martinez would win the first half of the fight but fade at the end. Bot because Bute is better. Because the size difference is too big. Martinez is a small MW, Bute is a big SMW.
Martinez isn't Pac or mayweather. He would need to leap in like he did against Pavlik and will get picked off by brutal counter punches. Bute TKO
Bute is great at fighting at the distance that suits him against an opponent that doesn't get inside extremely well. Martinez does... ...in any case, laffie, Martinez will not get to fight the Romanian French-Canadian. This is a fantasy fight.:good
Yes, that is a major concern, but Martinez is not Miranda or Zuniga or Andrade. He wouldn't really leap in. He has very good, fast footwork and knows how to move in. Once inside, he would have a big advantage over Bute, just like he did against Williams in the second round last night.