By James Slater: A good number of fight fans felt the fight would never actually happen, but rival middleweights Sergio Martinez (the accepted world’s #1) and the unbeaten Julio Cesar Chavez Junior (the WBC champ) are at last set to square off, on Sept. 15th in Las Vegas.
To further wet the appetite of fans, the two will soon embark on a four-day media tour – so writes Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. The two somewhat bitter rivals (Chavez has vowed to shut Martinez’ mouth by KO’ing him, Martinez has vowed to break Chavez’ bones) will visit L.A on July 10th, Las Vegas on the 11th, New York on the 12th and finally Mexico City on July 13th. The atmosphere and the intensity should be quite something as the two warriors come face-to-face day after day.
Both guys are pros, so we shouldn’t see any shenanigans on a par with those we saw from David Haye and Dereck Chisora recently, but some quickwitted security personel might be a good idea all the same.
Hopefully, the build up will result in a big, big fight; one that has a genuine super-bout feel about it. Fans all over the world will want to see this one; arguably the best middleweight fight between marquee names that could be made today. And, unlike before, this fight is a tough one to pick.
Chavez, the younger man by well over a decade, has improved so much in the last six months or so. Also, ‘The Son Of A Legend” is massive for the weight – coming into the ring as he does at around 180-pounds.
Martinez will no doubt size Chavez up at the media meetings, but he may be surprised when he meets him on actual fight night and sees how much bigger his rival is.
How will “Maravilla” cope with the size, strength and power of the star from Mexico? Then again, how will the still-improving Chavez cope with the punching power, the southpaw stance and the sheer class of the Argentine Pound-for-Pound entrant? Many fans see the September fight as a possible FOTY candidate.
Who would have said that this time last year?