World Boxing Council president Don Jose Sulaiman says middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr has committed to fight a mandatory against super champion and Ring Magazine pound for pound No. 3 Sergio ?Maravilla? Martinez of Argentina.
Sulaiman told the Manila Standard, ?Chavez called me up to let me know that he will fight Martinez.? Sulaiman was at the Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas when Chavez put on an impressive performance to retain his title against No.1 contender Marco Antonio Rubio last February 4.
The WBC had earlier ruled that the mandatory rival of the middleweight champion Chavez Jr., son of the legendary Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Sr has to be Martinez.
The WBC made it clear it would not endorse a reported fight between Chavez Jr and Antonio Margarito ?due to the fact that the mandatory rival is ?Maravilla? Martinez.?
However, the Chavez Jr-Martinez title showdown will depend on Martinez winning his next bout against Matthew Macklin which is scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 17.
The tough Irishman Macklin is seeking to overcome his highly controversial split decision loss to WBA champion Felix Sturm in Germany in a bout where Macklin clearly out-boxed Sturm.
The 29 year old Macklin told Sky Sports in London he was ?very disappointed not to get the decision against Sturm but this (the fight vs Martinez) is the silver lining.?
He claimed ?Everyone in America saw that and they were more outraged than we were in England and Ireland. Maybe because they love the aggression side of boxing which I showed. Most people in America barely had Sturm winning even three rounds. Everyone thought I won it, over here they felt I really dominated him completely.?
Sky Sports in Britain also quoted Macklin as saying ?It was good to get vrewarded with this fight (vs Martinez) because being at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick?s Day, against Martinez on HBO it ticks all the boxes. Its like a fairytale.|
Currently based in New York is working with American promoter Lou DiBella and has decided to recall his old trainer and former world champion Buddy McGirt rather than Joe Gallagher who worked with Macklin in the Strum fight. Macklin believes McGirt is the right man to help him beat Martinez.
The Irishman conceded that Gallagher is a good conditioner but added ?I think the level I?m fighting at now, for boxing knowledge and a technical and tactical point nof view, he?s probably not on that level yet.?
Macklin went on, ?He (Gallagher) is still a young trainer, learning. In this kind of leaguie when you come back to the corner you want to be looking at someone who has been there and done it. Not just as a fighter because he?s done it as a trainer too in those big fights with Arturo Gatti, Vernon Forrest etc. You want that experience in the corner and the gym too, when you?re building the gameplan and planning tactics for the fight.?
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