The battle between World Boxing Council middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez jr and Argentina’s Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez is “so big” according to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.
Arum told the Manila Standard that they held “a huge press conference” in Mexico City and the fight itself promises to be an excellent contest.
At the press conference Chavez Jr, son of the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez said he will rely heavily on his youth and physical condition to overcome Martinez in their title showdown at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on September 15.
Chavez told the media “I’ll train like never before. I have a great hunger for this win. I’m young and strong. I want to be part of history and earn the respect of boxing and fans worldwide.”
For his part Martinez said, “If the fight is not so easy for me, it will be super extremely difficult for Chavez because I’ve forged a 17 year professional career with many sacrifices and hard work. I’ll win by knockout. I’m psyched and confident that this night I’ll will be the winner.”
The affair was spiced up by Martinez who gave a baby feeding bottle to Chavez’ promoter Fernando Beltran and father Julio Cesar Chavez telling them “give it to junior after the fight.”
Chavez Jr. responded “How will you feel when a baby beats you that night? Where are you going to go after I win?”
Chavez Jr is coming off an impressive 7th round TKO over Andy Lee last June 16 which improved the 26 year old Mexican’s record to 46-0-1 with 32 knockouts.
Martinez who is 37 is the current holder of the WBC Diamond Belt and has a record of 49-2-2 with 28 knockouts. The southpaw is coming off a big win over Matthew Macklin who retired in the 11th round after being dropped twice in the round. However, Martinez himself was sent to the canvas in round seven.
Despite initial doubts that Cahez Jr would be willing to face Martinez, WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman ruled that the Mexican had to face the Argentine who is ranked No. 3 in Ring Magazine’s pound for pound rankings. The WBC president was clearly pleased at the success of his efforts during the press conference which he attended.
