Late Tuesday night, BoxingScene.com sat down with WBO/WBC middleweight Sergio Martinez and adviser Sampson Lewkowicz. The two men were celebrating in Puerto Rico because earlier that day Martinez was honored by the WBO and several of their champions for last month's decision win over Kelly Pavlik.
Pavlik and his team made it official on Monday, they were waiving their right to a rematch with Martinez. Pavlik will make an immediate move to the super middleweight division. Now Martinez is weighing his options. At the top of his list - is Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Following his win over Shane Mosley on May 1, Mayweather told media members that a move to middleweight to challenge Martinez was a possibility if a fight with Manny Pacquiao fell through.
Martinez told BoxingScene he would like to fight Mayweather, at any weight between 154 to 160-pounds, and he's willing to accept Mayweather's demand for a random Olympic-style drug testing protocol.
"I am willing to fight anyone who is acceptable to HBO. I will leave the opponent to my handlers Sampson and [promoter] Lou DiBella. But I want to fight Mayweather. It would be honor to fight Mayweather or [Antonio] Margarito. Mayweather is the first [on my list], then Margarito and then Paul Williams," Martinez said to BoxingScene.com.
"Mayweather is the pound for pound best fighter on earth and whatever Maywaether says, I will accept. It will be an honor to fight him regardless of the weight, but it has to be at 154 and up because I can't get below 154. I will not sacrifice my life for any amount of money. I don't mind doing any [drug] tests that he demands and I will do them with pleasure - up until the day of the fight."
Martinez sat ringside for last Saturday's fight between Paul Williams and Kermit Cintron at the Home Depot Center in California. In his opinion, Cintron was winning the fight and Williams seemed to be having an off-night. He doesn't know what was wrong with Williams.
"I thought Cintron was winning and Paul Williams was not the same Paul Williams that I fought. By that time [the fourth round] he already threw 200 extra punches [against me]. It was an off-night for Williams," Martinez said.http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=27719