By James Slater: The fans want some stability and order to the middleweight title, and Don Jose Sulaiman has gone on record as saying his organization the World Boxing Council (WBC) will get to work on a fight that will eventually crown one and one only WBC 160-pound champ.
Yes, we all know the excellent Argentine Sergio Gabriel Martinez is the REAL middleweight king, WBC-wise and everything else, but there is also a current “regular” WBC middleweight ruler in Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, and a deserving mandatory WBC middleweight title challenger in Marco Antonio Rubio.
All three men feel they are the best in the world at the weight, and Sulaiman wants to see them face one another. The plan, Don Jose advised Fightnews.com, is for his organization to push for Martinez-Rubio (after “Maravilla” has defended against Britain’s Darren Barker, assuming of course, that he wins the Oct. 1st bout), with the winner to then face Chavez Junior (assuming “The Son Of A Legend” has in the meantime gotten past Peter Manfredo Junior in the scheduled Nov. 19th fight).
Most fans will no doubt feel the classy southpaw from Argentina will be able to defeat both Rubio and Chavez Junior, and that his position as the world’s number-one middleweight will not be in any jeopardy if these planned match-ups go ahead, and it’s true the 36-year-old looks a class above both Mexican warriors. But the scenario Sulaiman has in mind is not a bad one. Rubio has been waiting patiently for his shot for a long while now, and he will absolutely give his best if he does get Martinez into the ring. Win or lose, Rubio can be relied on to throw lots of punches and fight hard.
Then, assuming Martinez hasn’t been upset (by either Barker – who sounds extremely confident indeed – or by Rubio), he will meet Chavez Junior next year (assuming Chavez has not been upset by former “Contender” Manfredo – a distinct possibility in my opinion) in what would be a big fight. That’s not a bad prospective schedule, middleweight fans. I know I’d watch the two fights the WBC Prez wants to see.
Predictions for the middleweight fights we are/may be in store for:
Martinez-Barker. I like Martinez on points, in a tougher than expected tussle with the determined, underrated Brit.
Chavez-Manfredo. I pick Manfredo to pull off the upset, either by late stoppage or via points victory. Either way, this one will be a great fight.
Martinez-Rubio. Look for the Mexican slugger to go out on his shield after 5 or 6 exciting rounds.
Will we then see Martinez-Manfredo? I’ll hesitate to pick a winner until we know for sure!