Sergio Martinez Next Fight....

No super fight with Mayweather or Canelo or Ward...

Instead he will take on our very own Martin Murray in Argentina on April 17th next year.

It will as a defence of his WBC crown and will go ahead assuming Murray gets past Jorge Navarro in an Interim WBA title fight which is on the undercard of Ricky Hattons comeback fight on the 24th November.

Fantastic opportunity for Murray, who I felt deserved the nod against Sterm last time out. It's not a fight which is going to grab the attention of American fight fans though or add to much to Martinez legacy. How would people see the fight going...does Murray have any chance of an upset given Sergio's age and recent injury worries (he will be getting into the ring on the back of knee surgery)....

Oh by the way this should get confirmed at some point today..at the moment im just going off what I have been told. If im wrong then apologies!

I was expecting this kind of fight for Martinez, to be honest. The only thing which surprises me slightly, if it's confirmed, is the venue. Granted, it's a fight of lesser stature than Martinez-Chavez was, and Murray doesn't have the American interest the way Macklin and Williams do / did.Nonehteless, I'm still surprised that Martinez apparently wants this fight in Aregentina having just scored the biggest payday of his life in the States.

One eye on retirement, planning for this as his last fight and a chance to go out on a win in front of his own people, perhaps?

Anyway, I think he'd beat Murray in a similar way to how he beat both Barker and Macklin. I don't think Murray is polished enough to deal with Martinez's speed and countering, to be honest. Early rounds pretty even, but with martinezs class showing late on, widening hte points advantage in the championship rounds.

If this does indeed turn out to be Martinez's last hurrah, then a good showing from Murray could really put him in the shop window for 2013, when the division is likely to be blown wide open. And if rumours of HBO wanting to put together a tournament for the best 160 lb men bear fruit, there's all to play for.

Thought he would like an Argentina bout and given his injuries (don't know how he's recovered) so it wasn't going to be a huge fight as Murray is decent but worse than Macklin imo and about the same as Barker so he could cause a few problems before getting stopped

Agreed with above. Surprised Murray is getting a shot, see him not posing as much of a problem as barker. Stoppage round 7 to 9, after a couple of early competitive rounds.

sturm beat murray quite handily, but seemed to be penalised from the biased judging he recieved against macklin. having said that, wont murray be quite big against martinez? i think he rehydrates much bigger than macklin or barker.

fair but unspectacular. he seems to have a bit of a thing for fighting our lads recently, macklin, barker and now murray. i'd really liked to see him go for alvarez, mayweather, gennedy or somebody to push is legacy further, as at the moment his is just shy of been a true ATG, and at 37 he is leaving it late.

I agree with the consensus that it's a bit of a surprise to see Murray get a shot here.

It does sound & look like this could well be a curtain call on his career. His knee injury is a major concern given his age & I wonder whether he has been told that it could be a long standing issue if he chooses to box on.

I like many would like to have seen him challenge the likes of Mayweather etc.

I think he needs 2 'BIG' victories to go down as an all time great. In my opinion he is a little shy of that tag as it stands.

Very good fighter but not an all time great. He doesn't have any kind of longevity at the highest level having only arrived on it a couple of years ago and I would say that as it stands he only really has 2 defining names on his resume in Paul Williams & Kelly Pavlik.

Of course he has beaten Chavez but I'm not sure how much weight we can put on that victory until we see where Chavez goes in the future.

its a shame as i always thought he had the beating of mayweather, still hope if he wants one last huge payday but i think age may have caught up with him. id still consider him for future hof though

I actually like it that he is giving those that don't normally get shots. Macklin and less-so Murray could have got the W vs Sturm and could be world champ and they haven't been even able to get a shot at the other champs but for Martinez. Dzinzuruk etc weren't getting big fights untill Martinez obliged. He gave them a huge chance to prove there at his level and that can only be good for the sport

The 3 Brits aren't brilliant but I would give them chances against Geale, Chavez, Quillin etc if the other champs follow sergio's lead and let the guys who are working hard to get a shot

WHU_Champo_League_in_7Yrs wrote:I actually like it that he is giving those that don't normally get shots. Macklin and less-so Murray could have got the W vs Sturm and could be world champ and they haven't been even able to get a shot at the other champs but for Martinez. Dzinzuruk etc weren't getting big fights untill Martinez obliged. He gave them a huge chance to prove there at his level and that can only be good for the sport

Good post WHU. I like a champ who takes on contenders instead of sitting around complaining that they can't get fights.

Martinez took the high risk low reward fights, as expected many people online (not here) were calling his challengers bum fighters, because they had no clue about them.