Sergio Martinez Vs. The World

Michael Nelson takes a look at how 160lb Champion Sergio Martinez stacks up head to head against Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, James Kirkland, Felix Sturm & Sergiy Dzinziruk.

The reaction to a fighter coming off a knockout over someone perceived to be impossible to knockout is always intriguing. We're so accustomed to seeing twelve round decisions, it's a shock to the system. So when Sergio Martinez rendered Paul Williams completely unconscious, he trounced our expectations so thoroughly that we were forced to reconsider how good this guy actually is, and how much he can achieve in the sport.

But since Martinez has nearly as many decisions as he does knockouts on his resume, can it simply be a case of a careless fighter running into a perfect punch? We already knew from his unofficial KO over Kermit Cintron that Sergio's power was respectable enough. Tinkering with his estimated ceiling too much may be lazy and reactionary.

If nothing else though, he reconfirmed that he has a complete skillset that is difficult to defeat. How difficult? Let's take a look.

Martinez vs Manny Pacquiao

Ten years ago, Antonio Margarito overwhelmed a green, 25 year old Martinez. For years thereafter, Antonio was regularly seen on ESPN, HBO, and Showtime largely beating his opponents into submission while Martinez toiled in obscurity. But within the last two years, Martinez has leaped into the spotlight while the Tijuana Tornado's career has tumbled, ultimately swallowed by the storm that is Manny Pacquiao.

Ironically, to ask Margarito's recent conqueror to take on Margarito's old knockout victim seems a bit absurd. It's pitting a small welterweight against the best middleweight in the world.

But since when did absurdity stunt imagination? Postulating on how the most dynamic fighter of our era would handle a size disadvantage that's larger than his speed advantage is a fun exercise. I'd venture to say he wouldn't do bad, but not well enough to win. As of late, Pacquiao has looked phenomenal against stationary adversaries - and he looked fairly menacing against a fleeting Cotto. But it's been a while since he's been in the ring with an elusive opponent with foot speed.

The Filipino icon's conditioning, workrate, and versatility would keep him in the fight. Particularly, late, he would have moments where he appears on the verge of taking over. In the end, Sergio's length and awkward style would prove too troublesome to consistently navigate around, and Pac would fall short in a blisteringly-paced match of wits.

Pacquiao taking on Martinez would test the limits of greatness in a matter rarely seen in boxing history. Which is why the chances of it happening are minuscule.

But we can dream.

Martinez UD Pacquiao

Martinez vs Miguel Cotto

Surprisingly, it appears that Cotto may have the inside track to being Martinez' next opponent. While Cotto generally makes for exciting bouts, I'm not sure how competitive this one would be.

The good news for Cotto is that Martinez is a counter puncher at heart, which ensures that Cotto would spend most of the bout on his front foot. Miguel is far more effective stalking a moving target - or at least standing his ground - than he is attempting to box (in his case, skating along the ropes while occasionally stopping to flurry). When he's on the move, he largely ignores his most potent weapon - a left hook to the body. His body attack is among the best in boxing if he's against someone he feels comfortable with pressing.

The bad news is that his right hand is the opposite of potent, which limits him against durable, talented southpaws. Moreover, his new taller stance - constructed under the tutelage of Emmanuel Steward - looked awkward during his victory over Yuri Foreman. Perhaps Cotto will become more comfortable with it as he spends more time with Steward. But the cumbersome style on display five months ago would get chopped up and eventually devoured by Sergio's precision.

Cotto's courage will never be in question. Unfortunately, in a division where he's surrounded by bigger and stronger fighters, his time as an elite pugilist has probably come to an end. Throwing him in with the Argentinian phenom would just accentuate that ending.

Maritinez TKO9 Cotto

Martinez vs James Kirkland

Kirkland is an aggressive, sometimes reckless, southpaw who would try to swarm Martinez as much as possible. Of course, the last guy that met that description ended up with his face planted into the canvas. Lesson learned: any aggression directed towards Martinez should have some semblance of intelligent design.

That's not exactly Kirkland's MO, but as Joel Julio found out last year, his foot speed and strength can be overwhelming. While Williams looked to swamp Martinez with activity, Kirkland's power serves more as an immediate threat. He can potentially end a fight at any moment, and we've seen that Sergio can do the same.

The intrigue of a seemingly imminent knockout would make this one of the better matchups in boxing. Kirkland, likely to be a heavy underdog, would have to prove his mettle in a few tuneups before taking on a bout of this magnitude. Shaking off any rust left from his jail stint makes him a handful for anyone at 154 pounds.

That leaky defense remains a liability though. Sergio has come through with flying colors when tested by power punchers in recent bouts. He would survive some rough moments while taking advantage of the surplus of counter-punching opportunities Kirkland provides.

The true winners, however, would be the fans.

Martinez KO7 Kirkland

Martinez vs Felix Sturm

Sturm's career has been a bit of a disappointment. He's been a titlist for years after exploding onto the scene with an outstanding performance against Oscar De La Hoya. Yet, he's somehow managed to elude a unification bout with fighters such as Kelly Pavlik and Arthur Abraham. Perhaps regrettably so, now that their vulnerabilities have been exposed to the world.

It'd be naive to think Sturm steps out of his safe haven and comes to the states to fight Martinez, or that Martinez would bother going to Germany to fight Sturm. But in the unlikely event that geographic hurdles are crossed, Sturm would have the opportunity to erase career disappointments in one fell swoop.

His shell defense behind a probing jab is a puzzle to most. But that shell is accessorized by the same albatross his former rival Abraham wears - a low punch output. Despite promises otherwise, Abraham wore his proudly on his way to being shutout by Carl Froch a few weeks ago. Sturm would make the same promises. And he would suffer something close to the same fate.

Though Sturm's sound technique would likely ensure that he'd be more competitive than Abraham was against Froch, Sergio's foot speed and combinations would give him fits all night.

Martinez UD Sturm

Martinez vs Sergiy Dzinziruk

Sturm's countryman, Sergiy Dzinziruk, has recently shown a willingness to kick-start his career and step outside of Germany. Good thing, because despite his formidable skillset, he was quickly becoming irrelevant. Going on a year and a half of inactivity, his dominant victory over Daniel Dawson reminded boxing fans that, yes, he still existed.

Relevancy aside, he presents the most troubling style to Martinez.

He's much bigger than Pacquiao, he's more defensively responsible than Cotto and Kirkland, and he throws more punches than Sturm. His jab is persistent and damaging. And while he isn't a knockout artist, he has reasonable pop.

Pavlik had mid-round success against Sergio by utilizing his length and disrupting Martinez' every move with a timely jab. Dzinziruk isn't as tall as Kelly, but he has the attributes to build upon the same strategy. The knock on him is that he tends to drop rounds by falling into lulls. Especially being the more flashy practitioner, Martinez could take control of stretches of the bout with his activity.

But the clash would pit two intelligent fighters making adjustments throughout. All signs point toward a closely contested chess match. Are judges enamored enough with Dzinziruk's style to give him a tight decision? Past results - which include a handful of head-scratchingly close scores in spite of home field advantage - indicate that they're not.

Martinez SD Dzinziruk

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