Andy Lee to face Sergio Martinez 4 the WBC middleweight title in New York next March!

Mate your right but your banging head against brick wall :good

 

:deal

 

Stamina and durability are not technical skills, but I meant that they are core attributes of being a professional boxer. It's not as important in the amateurs with headguards, bigger gloves and most importantly in Lee's case the shorter distance. This was in reference to some people that are wondering why he hasn't transitioned.

No he can't defend himself inside or out, which is why he was stopped by Vera. He was being hit by Vera throughout the fight. Thats easy to forget because he was dominating early, but he was still being hit an unacceptable amount. If you don't believe, I can provide a video and the times for when he was hit. I suspect its more the case you don't want to believe.

I never said he can't fight offensively on the outside, thats his strongest suit. He's very good at that, which is why he can account for such limited opposition and maintain his KO ratio, against said limited opposition. That isn't a surprise. Somebody with as fast hands as he does, with power, and a very good long punching should be expected to beat the fighters he has.

You never attempted to address the points I made, and provided a straw man argument to boot. Reeling off stats and what he's done on his record against crap opponents does not address my concerns about his technique. You may as well just give up before we have to dig out the old YouTube videos and I'll point you towards every single time his poor defence and inside ability is exposed.

 

You are basing your whole argument on his 1 loss. Why don't you watch a few more of Lee's more recent fights and come back to me with your assessment. I never said Lee has a great defense or an inside game, I've said before that he needs to improve his defense, but he is a skilled fighter whether he meets your definition of skill or not.

 

You have a point. I've seen quite a few of his fights live but have never rewatched them, except for the Vera loss. I'll try and watch a few and assess how prevalent his flaws are in them. The problem is I always have to keep in mind that Vera was his best opponent, and quite a few of these are very limited and mask things. Thats why prospects can sometimes come unstuck IMO, its all smooth sailing while their best attributes at working, its when they have to dig into the locker and bring out other skills that things can be lacking.

Okay, at least we're on more reasonable ground now not just a slanging match. That being the case, it begs the question, what is your criteria for a skilled boxer? How highly do defence and ability to fight at all ranges figure?

 

I look at punch technique, footwork, combination punching, counter punching, defense, use of angles, timing, balance, etc

Obviously Lee doesn't excel at all the above, defense being the most obvious one, but he excels at enough for me to say he has above average skill. Lots of fighters can only fight really well at one range, look at Wlad and Khan. Tall fighters should fight from mid to long range if that's where their strength lies.

 

That is true, but you'd hope that when push comes to shove he wouldn't be as inept as he seems when somebody does get inside. The problem is, a fighter has to be pretty exceptional at what they do to stop a fighter ever getting inside, particularly as the bout progresses it gets tougher to maintain the footwork needed. Lee hasn't shown he can do it, he certainly needs to improve his stamina if he wants to have a chance at it and preferably also work on at least his defence inside so as to not put such immense pressure on himself.

Don't think I'm hating on Lee here. I'd put someone like Groves in the exact same boat. His problems look to me to be very, very similar. Reflexes aren't as good as they think, not good under pressure on the inside, and tire quite noticeably and quickly. You'd have to say if Groves came up against a SMW version of Vera that doesn't tire as quickly as Anderson he'd be in a bit of bother on that evidence.

 

This would be good man .A big upset if Lee wins this man .Probably get good odds on him .Martinez is 35 man .I read a thread that says he's juicing .Infact I found it i'll copy it cause it was a good one , funny .I'm not accusing him tho this is just a funny thread

Is Sergiroid Martinez, juicing? I mean, who the hell hits their prime at age 35?!? How does he get better after being stopped by the hands of Antonio Margaplasto? The same guy that ruined Cotto with is plasterific hands. Sergiroid couldn't even beat Kermit The Frog Cintron. His biggest win up until this point is a UD over the shot and exposed by Hopkins, Kelly Pavlack.

And now I'm suppose to believe he naturally knocked out Paul Williams? The same Paul Williams with an iron chin that took hard shots before?!? The same Paul Williams that was knocked down in their previous fight and got back up and kept going to work? C'MON SON. That knockout looked exactly the same as the Roided fueled knockout of Hatton by Pacquiao. Its eerily similar. I'm not buying it. They didn't even have olympic style testing for their fights and now we all know why. Nobody throws a KO punch like that without being on something. He didn't even look when he threw it!

Sergio Martinez is definitely on steroids. That is the only explanation for his surge at such a late age in boxing. An age where most boxers would be considered shot, not known for being in their prime.

 

Post the article mate i could do with a laugh...

 

did you read this of the boxing site's twitter ?

 

no but i didnt post a thread about this 3 weeks ago.

notice theres no article or source to back this up

 

Zbik has been calling for the fight for months. Purse bids are Jan 7th. His promoter is in Vegas at the moment talking to Martinez adviser..

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/wbc-orders-martinez-zbik-69369

you got anything to back this up?

 

i also picked that. anyone who had been Pirog fight went for him to win.

 

Do you expect him to win ?

 

I posted this yesterday in the irish thread but i dont now if Slapbangwhallop has his own source you have to ask him? http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/8567/sergio-martinez-andy-lee-might-land-msg-theatre-march/



Sergio Martinez-Andy Lee Might Land At MSG Theatre In March
By George Kimball


Christmas may have come early for Ireland’s Andy Lee. Less than a day after the implosion of the Klitschko-Chiisora card in Germany scratched Lee’s scheduled fight this weekend, the Irish middleweight has been confirmed as the leading candidate to fight world champion Sergio Martinez on HBO next spring.

Martinez’ devastating first-round knockout of Paul Williams in Atlantic City last month did more than solidify the WBC champion’s claim on middleweight superiority. Martinez also inherited Williams’ onetime mantle as the most feared opponent in boxing. The WBC had mandated a fight between the Martinez-Williams winner and its “Silver Champion,” Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., but it has become apparent that Chavez (who, citing illness, pulled out of a scheduled fight against Pawel Wolak last weekend) wants no part of El Maravilla at this stage of his career, and with interim WBC champ Sebastian Zbik and WBA 154-pound champ evincing similar reluctance, Lee has emerged the clear-cut favorite for the opponent’s role in Martinez’ next defense.

Martinez’ promoter Lou DiBella, who spent yesterday conducting transatlantic telephone negotiations with Lee’s manager-trainer Emanuel Steward and Irish promoter Brian Peters, confirmed that Lee has been tentatively penciled in on Martinez’ dance card. The bout would likely take place at the Madison Square Garden Theatre on March 12, lending a festive St. Patricks Day atmosphere to what would be the first world middleweight title challenge by an Irishman since Steve Collins beat Chris Pyatt to win the WBO title in 1994.

Ironically, Lee had hoped to fight in the same venue on the same date, but an anticipated all-Irish St. Patricks week matchup with countryman John Duddy failed to get off the ground.

Lee (24-1) had been training in Austria for an anticipated bout on the Wladimir Klitschko-Dereck Chisora undercard in Mannheim, but that card collapsed this week after the heavyweight champion tore an abdominal muscle in training Wednesday and withdrew from his bout against the Zimbabwe-born English challenger.

Lee notched a pair of TKO victories (stopping Michael Walker in September and Troy Lowry in October) in the space of 15 days, but has not fought since. Earlier in his career Lee had been fast-tracked for a prospective title shot, but that plan was sidetracked by a 2008 TKO loss to Brian Vera at the Mohegan Sun. Lee has reeled off nine wins in a row since the Vera loss, and with the Klitschko-Chisora card gone up in smoke, will probably return to Ireland for the Christmas holidays and then proceed straight to the title bout without rescheduling a tuneup.

The 26 year-old Lee is currently rated No. 14 by the WBC. The organization’s rules allow a champion to make a voluntary defense against an opponent rated from 11th to 19th, pending approval of the WBC Board of Governors.

The Argentine-born Martinez (46-2-2), now domiciled in California after nearly a decade based in Spain, has emerged that boxing rarity – a late-blooming championship-calibre fighter who was well into his 30s by the time he hit his stride. Martinez, who celebrates his birthday in February, would be 36 by the time of the fight.

Although New York is the front-runner, DiBella said sites in New England (most likely the Connecticut casinos) and Atlantic City, the scene of Martinez’ recent triumphs, were also under consideration.