atm Chavez Jr @ 168 is a tougher fight for GGG than Martinez @ 160

I agree.

 

It is planned to be one time fight at 168 and an immidiate return to 160, AFAICT.

His knee has ruined him. If you remember old interviews with Gabriel Sarmiento he said that Martinez movement was the key to everything. Without a good knee he doesn't even have to be otherwise on the decline to perform worse.

 

neither one is any risk at this point.

 

I don't agree with people that Martinez is past it like people say. The man has taken care of himself his whole career and hasn't taken a lot of punishment. His had some lingering injuries with his hand and knee, but lots of guys go through that. By the same criteria Andre Ward could've been listed as "past it", with his shoulder and hand injuries. Those injuries are par for the course, they come and go over the years and at his age other guys have made complete recoveries from such.

And then there's the Murray fight. Nobody expected Murray to be anything special, he was considered on par with Dominico Spada. Coming in Murray's lone career accomplishment was giving Sturm a close fight. Sergio's injuries resurfaced during the fight and it affected his performance and made Murray look better than he really was.

And then there's the issue of how good is Martinez really? He failed to put away Cintron, had close fight in PWill I, was losing to Pavlik before Pavlik gassed, and PWill II ended so quick we didn't even see Sergio tested. He blows away Dzinziruk who was a light hitting JMW, and then beats Macklin & Barker, but not before both men give him some tough rounds, the whole time side-stepping WBO title-holder Dmitry Pirog who had a good HBO win over American Danny Jacobs.

Golovkin-Chavez should be a tougher fight for Golovkin because of how Golovkin will fight Chavez. Just like how he fought Ouma in a war vs how Taylor simply boxed Ouma to a safe decision.

 

They both present their own unique set of challenges I think. Sergio with his speed and awkward style, and Chavez with his size, chin and pressure.