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Rick Reeno reports this morning that Sergio Martinez and promoter Lou DiBella are already thinking about the 154-pound titlist's next fight after a rousing performance last night. Martinez lost a narrow, back-and-forth war with Paul Williams in a fight that should raise the stock of both men.
One option is Cory Spinks, as Don King has already contacted DiBella about that fight, which would be a title unification bout if both the WBC (Martinez) and IBF (Spinks) sanctioned it. Spinks (37-5, 11 KO) won the IBF belt against Deandre Latimore in April, his only 2009 fight.
King apparently has a March date on HBO lined up, which will feature Spinks and fellow St. Louis titleholder Devon Alexander. Martinez-Spinks on paper sounds like it could be a bit of a stinker given their reputations as counter punchers, but I think Martinez has shown an ability to lay back and wait and come forward pretty well, he just doesn't come forward in a brawling nature the way a guy like Ricky Hatton or Alfredo Angulo do. He's not a pressure fighter, but he can lead action. And Spinks, for all the guff he's taken over the years, has actually put up two straight perfectly entertaining fights with Latimore and Verno Phillips.
The other main target, according to Lou DiBella, is Antonio Margarito:
"We would love to get Spinks in March. My guy showed everyone tonight that he can fight his ass off and proved that he is one of the best fighters in the world. Paul Williams told me after the fight that Martinez is the best guy that he ever fought. I think Martinez could clean out the junior middleweight division. Margarito is another guy we want. We would love to get Margarito next year," DiBella told BoxingScene.com.
Margarito beat Martinez (TKO-7) way back in 2000 at welterweight. If that doesn't frame just how long ago it really was, let me put it this way: The main event of that card was Barrera-Morales. The first one.