Chavez vs Martinez: How do you see it going?

Just over a week to go until the huge middleweight title fight between Sergio Martinez and Julio Chavez JR in Las Vegas. Described as the Hispanic super bowl by Bob Arum, the fight is promising to be a classic. This fight is one that has been bubbling for a very long time, and Chavez has been seen to shy away from the fight in the past leading fans to accuse him of ducking, Arums response to this was one of honesty “Everybody said we were ducking Sergio Martinez. They were God damn right we were ducking Sergio Martinez. Chavez wasn’t ready,” said Arum. “But now he’s certainly ready to give a competitive battle.”

What are the keys to victory in this fight though? Can Junior pull of an upset and take his place as number one in the division?

For Martinez to win he must use his speed. He possess not only fantastic speed but also great timing and timing beats everything. He will visably be the smaller man come fight night and by using his upper body movement and constantly moving around the ring there is a chance he could tire the Mexican, forcing a late stoppage in the process. He can not allow Junior on the inside, he must maintain distance like he did against Williams and Pavlik. In a recent HBO face off Martinez stated that the Mexican isn’t the same caliber as Williams or Pavlik, however Pavlik hasn’t been the same fighter since his one sided beating at the hands of Bernard Hopkins, while Williams was an active pressure fighter who got destroyed by a real danger punch.

If Chavez is to win he needs to enter the ring with a granite chin, and set his engines to full power. He must ensure he is cutting off the ring and not just stalking Marvilla around the ring allowing him to use his foot movement and speed to steal rounds. He needs to get to Martinez while on the ropes and land powerful combinations breaking the Argentinian down. He will need to keep his composure as well, there is a good chance that he will be outboxed for the first six rounds, however we have seen this before when he faced Zbik in June 2011, taking a majority decision and the WBC belt in the process.

After looking at what both guys bring to the table I see Martinez taking this by split decision. His experience at the top level, speed and excellent footwork will be the difference. Chavez and Roach will be trying go set traps but I can’t see him falling for them. If Martinez does win this, will we see him call out Floyd Mayweather? Having recently been released from prison Floyd would probably want a tune up but with them both nearing the end of their respective careers it would certainly be one to watch. I see Chavez coming in to this fight with very little to lose. He is a young fighter despite his large number of bouts, and can always bounce back should he suffer defeat next weekend, I believe should he lose and accept the defeat with dignity his stock will rise with boxing fans across the globe. Of course there will always be those questions about how he packs on so much weight after the weigh in.

http://thecutman.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/martinez-vs-chavez-jr-how-will-it-go/

I really think this is going to be a tough fight for Martinez.
I hope to god he wins, but Chavez is looking stronger and stronger as each fight goes by.
People can talk all they want about how he weighs in as a middlewieght but walks into the ring as a light heavy, but what can yoiu do about that and I see that happening again on the 15th. I'm Irish and it pained me to see how Chavez just walked through Andy Lee's punches with ease (and Lee is known as a good puncher).
Obviously Martinez is in a different stratosphere than Lee but this will be be no easy fight.

I agree with you GolfingGuy. When the hype first started about these two meeting I thought it would be a walk in the park for Martinez. However, as time has gone on Martinez has consistently struggled in his last few fights and Chavez just continues to get bigger, although I don't think there has has been vast improvements on his fighting ability.

Size of the ring could be crucial as if Martinez does not have the room nor the time to let his punches go then his age and the size of Chavez could be too much for him in the end.

I expect Martinez to dominate the first 4 rounds but the next 8 rounds will see Chavez come on and win most of the remaining rounds and can see a draw or a SD either way but the last few rounds will see Chavez doing all the fighting.

Its a really easy fight to pick in my opinion. Chavez's foot speed is terrible and he is wide open. He is going to plod all night into Martinez's straight left hand and eventually he is going to get knocked out. His body punching will be negated by Martinez movement and the fact that he always has his hands down by his sides.

Only way Chavez Jr wins this is if Martinez can't knock him out somehow and gets royally shafted by the judges.

Gonna be a close fight, but i can't go against the clean living Sergio, but man, it's gonna be close.

Why do people think this is going to be close? Am I losing my mind or something?

If it goes to split decision it will probably be...

119 109 Martinez
119 109 Martinez
166 112 Chavez

Or something ridiculous like that

I'm rooting for Sergio and hoping his better movement and arcurate power punches will get him home. Either late stoppage or UD as Chavez is discouraged and goes into his shell.