The last Face Offs that really got me excited were Bernard Hopkins vs. Jean Pascal and David Haye vs. Wladimir Klitschko. I can now add Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to that list. As you’ll see in the below preview, there is a clear disdain between these two. I have interviewed Sergio Martinez several times and he’s always jovial. Even when on the wrong side of suspect decision losses, he never lost his care-free attitude. But here, Martinez has an brooding intensity and nastiness we’ve never seen before. It’s clearly personal; Martinez sees Chavez Jr. as a pampered brat who’s had the boxing world handed to him without paying dues.
Chavez Jr. knows his legitimacy is still in question (even with Martinez’s old WBC belt around his waist and a few wins against Top 10 guys). He had his own taunts for Martinez, who he feels his overrated and due for another loss to a Mexican (referencing Martinez’s early 2000s defeat to Antonio Margarito).
September 15 can’t get here soon enough.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 