rokko
11-06-2010, 05:32 PM
Another day, another slightly puzzling ruling by one of the governing bodies controlling boxing. This time the culprit is the WBC, and the recipients of their fuzzy logic are Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez.
Ruslan Chikov of BoxingScene reported earlier today that the WBC has made a decision on who the winner of the upcoming bout between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez will face, and that it will be none other than interim champion Sebastian Zbik, followed by silver champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr so long as he remains at the weight.
Zbik as the interim champion being given his shot is fair enough, but for the likes of Williams or Martinez, both of whom are looking for big money and high profile fights, he will hardly make for an appealing option. Martinez in particular, at the age of 35 already, is looking to end his career having taken on the biggest names that he can, and Zbik certainly wasn't one of the names on his list.
Chavez Jr is a little more appealing, and by that time might be high profile enough to make for an big money fight, but then again it's far from certain that he will stay at middleweight anyway. Added to the fact that aside from his name and silver title, he has done little to warrant a fight against the likes of either Williams or Martinez just yet.
Recently Chavez Jr has talked about possibly fighting Manny Pacquiao in the future, and given that WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto is under the same promotional banner, that match up is probably more likely as well. Not to mention that either Williams or Martinez would both he heavily favored to beat Chavez Jr at this stage of his career.
Under the circumstances then, the loser of the Williams vs. Martinez rematch could well end up with the better options immediately after the fight. That being the case, it's hard to believe that the winner will want to retain the belt and skip the more lucrative offers to be had elsewhere.
The fact that the pair will fight at a catchweight requested by Williams suggests that even if he emerges victorious, which most bookmakers have at about even odds right now, it's likely he's thinking of moving down in weight soon anyway
Williams has talked frequently about a move back down as low as welterweight in the near future, no doubt in the perhaps unlikely hope that he will one day land a bout against the likes of Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather. Neither of which incidentally has ever shown much interest in taking him on.
Martinez is slightly more limited in his options, and recently said that even making junior middleweight is now a struggle. He could however match up well with any of the current middleweight or junior middleweight champions if the circumstances were right or he could persuade one of them to take him on at a catchweight.
The fact that there is both an interim and silver champion alone suggests perhaps that the WBC is eager for one of them to ascend to full champion, and making two clearly better fighters take potentially two unappealing fights is only going to probably push both Williams and Martinez away..
Ruslan Chikov of BoxingScene reported earlier today that the WBC has made a decision on who the winner of the upcoming bout between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez will face, and that it will be none other than interim champion Sebastian Zbik, followed by silver champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr so long as he remains at the weight.
Zbik as the interim champion being given his shot is fair enough, but for the likes of Williams or Martinez, both of whom are looking for big money and high profile fights, he will hardly make for an appealing option. Martinez in particular, at the age of 35 already, is looking to end his career having taken on the biggest names that he can, and Zbik certainly wasn't one of the names on his list.
Chavez Jr is a little more appealing, and by that time might be high profile enough to make for an big money fight, but then again it's far from certain that he will stay at middleweight anyway. Added to the fact that aside from his name and silver title, he has done little to warrant a fight against the likes of either Williams or Martinez just yet.
Recently Chavez Jr has talked about possibly fighting Manny Pacquiao in the future, and given that WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto is under the same promotional banner, that match up is probably more likely as well. Not to mention that either Williams or Martinez would both he heavily favored to beat Chavez Jr at this stage of his career.
Under the circumstances then, the loser of the Williams vs. Martinez rematch could well end up with the better options immediately after the fight. That being the case, it's hard to believe that the winner will want to retain the belt and skip the more lucrative offers to be had elsewhere.
The fact that the pair will fight at a catchweight requested by Williams suggests that even if he emerges victorious, which most bookmakers have at about even odds right now, it's likely he's thinking of moving down in weight soon anyway
Williams has talked frequently about a move back down as low as welterweight in the near future, no doubt in the perhaps unlikely hope that he will one day land a bout against the likes of Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather. Neither of which incidentally has ever shown much interest in taking him on.
Martinez is slightly more limited in his options, and recently said that even making junior middleweight is now a struggle. He could however match up well with any of the current middleweight or junior middleweight champions if the circumstances were right or he could persuade one of them to take him on at a catchweight.
The fact that there is both an interim and silver champion alone suggests perhaps that the WBC is eager for one of them to ascend to full champion, and making two clearly better fighters take potentially two unappealing fights is only going to probably push both Williams and Martinez away..