Welterweight contender Joshua Clottey has turned down a potential December 5 shot at WBC junior middleweight titlist Sergio Martinez, and Martinez's trainer Gabriel Sarmiento has trashed Clottey, reports BoxingScene.com's Rick Reeno.
"I can understand when a promoter doesn't want to fight. But when I hear that a fighter doesn't want to fight, then I know he is a p***y and a coward. He is not a warrior. He is a disgrace."
This is the second time in the last week or two that the Martinez camp has ripped a fighter that turned them down, the first being Sergio Mora, who also got the P-bomb. Apparently this was Clottey's decision, and not Top Rank's. You can probably argue that it might simply be that Clottey doesn't want to move up to 154 pounds, and to be perfectly fair, Martinez called out a welterweight. Clottey might be aware that his skill set just might not translate up to 154 very well.
Clottey is still scheduled for the Pavlik-Williams undercard on December 5, it would appear, but it won't be a fight with Sergio Martinez. Pavlik also was a rumored Martinez opponent this year, which would have seen Martinez moving up to 160, but that didn't happen either. It's strange that a guy that HBO seems to love who holds a major title is having such a hard time making fights, but it's a sketchy division at 154. He's tried to bring guys up, or go up himself, but nobody's taking.
