Floyd vs Martinez - could it happen at MIDDLEWEIGHT???

Personally, I do not believe that Manny and Floyd will come to an agreement and make the fight. That's just my opinion. Floyd has put himself out on too much of a limb with his "stance" on drug testing, and Manny will not allow a fighter to dictate the rules to him and the sanctioning bodies.


Therefore, I expect both men to announce alternative big fights soon. But this thread isn't to debate whether or not they will get it together, it's to discuss a very interesting proposition which has come up following Floyd's win over Shane Mosley.


Floyd Mayweather vs Sergio Martinez!


My main question is, if this is the avenue which Floyd chooses to pursue, do you think there is any chance that the fight could be at middleweight?

I know it makes more immediate sense to occur at light-middle, considering Floyd is a welterweight now and did not even manage to reach the light-middleweight limit when he fought Oscar, but I have a feeling Floyd may finally be ready to reach for the stars and accomplish something truly special before his time is out. Many people (stupidly IMO) felt that Shane Mosley would be much bigger and stronger than Floyd in their fight, but this was proven incorrect. Floyd will obviously have took great confidence from his physical performance that night, and I have a feeling that may tempt him to middleweight now that the 160 kingpin is no longer 6ft 3in with a 75in reach and serious KO power.

There is a historical precedence here, the great Jose Napoles weighed in at a mere 153lbs for his crack at the middleweight crown... and he was facing arguably the greatest middleweight of them all, the near 6ft monster Carlos Monzon.

Floyd has already beaten Oscar at light-middle, he has already proven he could function effectively there and beat a top fighter. Beating Martinez at 154 would be an excellent win, but it wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary or particularly ground-breaking.

Martinez is small for a middleweight, weighing in at only 157 against Pavlik and rehydrating to only 167 on the night (compared to Pavlik who was 178. When you consider that Joshua Clottey weighed 166 in the ring when he fought Diego Corrales, Floyd beating a 167lbs fighter doesn't seem all that far-fetched).

Crucially, Sergio Martinez does not possess Mosley-like knockout power with his single shots. 24 KOs from 45 wins is a fairly decent stoppage ratio, but he is not someone whose power Floyd would fear at all.

I don't know about you guys, but my impression of Sergio Martinez is that he is a very, very good fighter because he is a very, very good athlete. He didn't start boxing until he was 20 apparently, and his game revolves around speed, workrate and athleticism rather than silky skills or accurate powerpunching.

Is a guy who started boxing at 20 years of age and is a natural light-middle going to able to match Floyd Mayweather for speed and skills??? I think not. Mayweather is a thoroughbred natural talent whose speed still looks sensational even at the age of 33.





So if Martinez can't KO Floyd, and if he can't outbox Floyd, then his only option would seem to be to outwork Floyd.

A risk worth taking for a former superfeather to take a big scalp at middleweight???

Legacy-wise, I'd say undoubtedly YES.





If Martinez comes to the ring at 167lbs again, and Floyd is around 155 which I think he could manage with no trouble at all (he was 152 on fightnight vs JM Marquez and that was after weighing in at 146), I don't see a really dangerous disadvantage for Floyd at all. 10-12lbs might be a dangerous disadvantage if Floyd was fighting someone like Gerald McClennan who had evil KO power, but Martinez doesn't. There was probably about that much weight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto on fightnight, and we all know how that turned out.



What you guys think, possible or not? A good idea or a bad one for PBF?

:bbb

 

Excellent post from a kindred spirit (I was at the game last week, a good ending to the worst season of my life). :good

 

But couldn't Floyd just weigh what he did vs Oscar, 150 or maybe a little higher, and compete against a 160-167lbs Martinez?

Don't get me wrong, it's a ****ing tough and risky assignment, but great fighters have overcame weight disadvantages like that and won. I think Floyd could do it vs Sergio.

 

Yeah I'm a Celtic man through and through. I haven't got to as many games as I would've liked this season because of uni and work, but the game there was fantastic. Even though we were **** second half, we got the win and that's what counts. A crumb of comfort from a season of absolute ****ing misery.

 

Do you think Martinez hits as hard as Shane Mosley does? I don't. Of course Martinez has a chance of an accumulation stoppage, but I don't think he has the variety or the accuracy to land on Floyd often enough in sequence for that to happen.

 

Martinez is 35 so it could happen. Floyd only fights old men