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 | | Subject: Sergio Martinez takes a stand against the WBC, HBO and others Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:53 pm | |
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- THE RING middleweight champion Sergio Martinez renounced his WBC "Diamond" belt, publicly denounced comments attributed to WBC president Jose Sulaiman that he believes are insensitive to women, and said that he may pursue Showtime over HBO, which he feels has mistreated him, at a press conference on Thursday in his native Argentina.
Martinez (48-2-2, 27 knockouts), rated No. 3 in THE RING's pound for pound, also said that he would entertain rising to 168 pounds to face THE RING super middleweight champion Andre Ward, who is contracted to Showtime.
Saying that he is a "boxer for the WBC," and, "not a hostage," Martinez said that he must "step aside," for "my dignity, for my pride and for my manhood."
"For Sergio to stand up in this way, the way that he did it, that took big balls, because he's playing with his future," said Martinez's advisor, Sampson Lewkowicz.
"Sergio is fighting just like he does in the ring. He's fighting for his life, just like a warrior, and the boxing world should salute him for that as a great champion, inside and outside of the ring. We'll sit down and talk about all of this probably in the beginning of January."
During the press conference, which he organized, Martinez expressed disappointment in what he feels is the WBC's failure to follow through with last week's mandate that WBC middleweight beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. face him in his next bout.
Top Rank Inc., the promoter of Chavez, announced on Wednesday that the popular 25-year-old fighter will defend his belt against Marco Antonio Rubio on HBO on Feb. 4 at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
"They're are not honoring their own decision," said Martinez, who is coming off an 11th-round knockout of Darren Barker in October while Chavez scored fifth-round stoppage of Peter Manfredo Jr. last month.
"I won't ever represent the WBC again until they make the fight that is obligatory, the fight which was voted on by unanimous decision to happen at the WBC's convention."
THE RING middleweight champion Sergio Martinez renounced his WBC "Diamond" belt, publicly denounced comments attributed to WBC president Jose Sulaiman that he believes are insensitive to women, and said that he may pursue Showtime over HBO, which he feels has mistreated him, at a press conference on Thursday in his native Argentina.
Martinez (48-2-2, 27 knockouts), rated No. 3 in THE RING's pound for pound, also said that he would entertain rising to 168 pounds to face THE RING super middleweight champion Andre Ward, who is contracted to Showtime.
Saying that he is a "boxer for the WBC," and, "not a hostage," Martinez said that he must "step aside," for "my dignity, for my pride and for my manhood."
"For Sergio to stand up in this way, the way that he did it, that took big balls, because he's playing with his future," said Martinez's advisor, Sampson Lewkowicz.
"Sergio is fighting just like he does in the ring. He's fighting for his life, just like a warrior, and the boxing world should salute him for that as a great champion, inside and outside of the ring. We'll sit down and talk about all of this probably in the beginning of January."
During the press conference, which he organized, Martinez expressed disappointment in what he feels is the WBC's failure to follow through with last week's mandate that WBC middleweight beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. face him in his next bout.
Top Rank Inc., the promoter of Chavez, announced on Wednesday that the popular 25-year-old fighter will defend his belt against Marco Antonio Rubio on HBO on Feb. 4 at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
"They're are not honoring their own decision," said Martinez, who is coming off an 11th-round knockout of Darren Barker in October while Chavez scored fifth-round stoppage of Peter Manfredo Jr. last month.
"I won't ever represent the WBC again until they make the fight that is obligatory, the fight which was voted on by unanimous decision to happen at the WBC's convention."
In the absence of a bout against Chavez, Martinez is scheduled to face THE RING No. 3-rated middleweight Matthew Macklin (28-3, 19 KOs) on March 17 at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Martinez said that the WBC's "Diamond" belt will not be on the line against Macklin, but it is unclear whether or not that means he will not be paying a sanctioning fee.
"I'm not planning on defending the WBC Diamond belt anymore," said Martinez, who won the undisputed middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Kelly Pavlik in April of last year. "The only title that I'm going to defend from now on is the one that I conquered by defeating Kelly Pavlik, which is the Ring magazine title."
In a new development, Sulaiman appears to be holding off for now on his sanctioning Chavez-Rubio. Top Rank Inc. CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Chavez, is on vacation and could not be reached for comment. Top Rank Vice President Carl Moretti declined comment on the situation with Rubio.
Top Rank media director Lee Samuels said Arum would address the situation during a January 3 press conference at the Alamodome at 11:30 a.m.
"I hate the cowardice that Chavez has taken on, as well as that of his coach, Freddie Roach, and Bob Arum in avoiding every day the fight with me and promoting him as a champion in the boxing world, which is a lie," said Martinez. "I never thought that a world champion would avoid somebody this way. Unfortunately, this sort of attitude can hurt our sport."
Martinez said Sulaiman attempted recently to pursuade him to go along with Chavez's bout against Rubio.
"On Dec. 20, Don Jose Sulaiman spoke to me, and he asked me to move aside and to let Chavez fight Rubio on Feb. 4. I was shocked. From then on, I felt like there was a knife that had been stabbed in my back. I told him that I had to speak with my team because that sort of decision is something that I can not decide by myself," said Martinez.
"But people [apparently] thought that the WBC had thrown me some change or some money to step aside, but what had happened is that Don Jose said that I had authorized his decision. That's an absolute lie. I have not authorized that fight. And from here on, that fight is the end of a lie."
Martinez followed up his victory over Pavlik with a second-round knockout of Paul Williams in November, a rematch of their 2009 fight that Williams won by a controversial majority decision. Martinez was then forced, however, to give up his WBC belt for fighting Sergei Dzinziruk in March on HBO, a bout Martinez won by an eight-round KO.
"The truth of the matter is that he lost the title because of HBO," said Lewkowicz. "He was never treated like the rest of their boys."
Martinez was then demoted to "Diamond" belt titleholder after the WBC elevated Sebastian Zbik to the status of full champion and mandated that Zbik face Chavez, who dethroned him by a unanimous decision in June.
"I don't agree with what HBO did with me, and that's why I'm leaving them at HBO," said Martinez. "You know that for a boxer, it might be harder to say no to HBO and to the WBC. But there are a lot of changes today with HBO and with the Showtime boxing people."
Martinez said that he would consider fighting Ward, who is contracted to Showtime "at a catchweight," said Lewkowicz.
"I don't know about the 168 pounds, but it's an option. That would be a spectacular fight," said Martinez. "Ward is a great champion, so that would be a spectacular fight, and I'm open to it. Let's do it."
Martinez also said that he might pursue a clash with RING No. 2-rated pound-for-pound fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. should Mayweather fail to successfully negotiate a megabout with RING No. 1-rated pound-for-pound Manny Pacquiao, holder of the WBO's welterweight belt.
"That door to Mayweather is definitely not shut," said Martinez. "This is a business, so you can never shut any doors."
Martinez also said that he was disappointed with words attributed to Sulaiman in The Manila Standard, where which the WBC president appeared to dismiss the physical abuse of women by their male counterparts in general, and, the case of Mayweather, in particular.
As a result of last Wednesday's guilty plea to a charge of misdemeanor battery domestic violence and no contest on two counts of harassment, Mayweather was sentenced in Las Vegas to 90 days in jail starting on January 6. Mayweather was also ordered to pay a $2,500 fine, to complete 100 hours of community service and to undergo 12 months of treatment in a domestic violence program.
Sulaiman e-mailed a clarification of his comments to several media outlets, but Martinez believes that he needs to do more.
"Just a few days ago, Don Jose made some controversial statements in reference to Floyd Mayweather's sentence for domestic violence," said Martinez, who often visits women’s shelters and domestic violence centers in support of the victims.
"I know that he sent an apology, but I have the right to ask from Don Jose a public apology about the insensitive comments that he has said about the violence against women." http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/170903-martinez-dumps-wbc-belt-may-leave-hbo-for-showtime?start=1 |
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