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Sergio Martinez: ‘Mayweather can have Pacquiao for breakfast’

Fighters Network
23
Mar
Photo by Ed Mulholland-Top Rank

Photo by Ed Mulholland-Top Rank Promotions

 

Former RING middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KO) is busy these days as a stand-up comic in the lakeside mountain resort town of Villa Carlos Paz, smack dab in the middle of Argentina, during the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere.

The usually talkative fighter, who has been inactive since his loss to Miguel Cotto last June, is now living the quiet life of a part-time theatrical attraction (he only performs on Tuesdays) but he took some time to talk to local boxing radio show “Iluminados por el Box” to reflect on his 40th birthday and his future – if any – in boxing.

But first, Martinez took the opportunity to give his own impressions on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight. And he didn’t hesitate to throw his support behind the American fighter.



“This was never too much of a fight to me because Mayweather is in a league of his own,” said Martinez. “Floyd Mayweather can have Manny for breakfast, lunch or anything. Pacquiao is still a long way from being ready for Mayweather.”

Martinez also spoke about the numerous injuries to his right knee, which he blamed for his poor performance against Cotto. “I am conscious of my age. I am 40 years old and I have the knees of a 90 year-old man,” said the fighter, who nonetheless refused to concede defeat in his fight against his injuries and hinted at a possible return to the ring.

“I take it in stride. I am still having trouble walking. When my knee warms up, I start to hobble. I still have to go back to Spain and get a check-up by the doctors and by the end of March, I will make a decision about my future. I still have to see whether I truly have the desire to go back to boxing, as well,” said “Maravilla,” who spent a considerable amount of time after the Cotto loss pondering retirement while doing some heavy soul-searching with the help of a psychologist back home.

“After losing to Cotto, it was incredible. I found my feelings again. Even though I didn’t fall into a depression, I did feel anger; I felt pain”, said Martinez. “But today, at 40 years of age, I have everything I want.”

Diego Morilla, a bilingual boxing writer since 1995, is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He served as boxing writer for ESPN Deportment and ESPN.com and is now a regular contributor to RingTV.com and HBO.com, as well as the resident boxing writer for XNSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @MorillaBoxing.

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