Chasing Manny: Sergio Martinez Considering Drop Down for October Fight

Sergio Martinez is going to return to the ring and HBO airwaves on October 1, but he's not sure if he'll be defending his middleweight championship, or fighting back at 154 pounds instead. BoxingScene.com's Ryan Burton reports that Martinez has become frustrated trying to find a big fight at 160 pounds, and is considering moving back down.

Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KO) moved up to 160 pounds on short notice in December 2009, fighting Paul Williams and dropping a razor-thin Fight of the Year contender. Martinez dethroned middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik in his next fight, and has defended the championship twice. In November 2010, he brutally knocked out Williams in a rematch (with a Williams-mandated catchweight of 157 pounds), and in March of this year, dominated Sergiy Dzinziruk, stopping him in eight rounds.

Sergio was being promised (by the WBC, so, you know) a fight with the winner of the June 4 fight between Sebastian Zbik and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., but it now appears that Chavez, should he win, will fight Top Rank stablemate Miguel Cotto in September. With so few major names fighting at middleweight now, Martinez moving back to 154 would actually make a lot of sense, championship or not.

And of course, maybe he'd move down to keep alive a possibility of facing Manny Pacquiao. That's wildly unlikely this year, as Pacquiao fights on November 12, probably against Juan Manuel Marquez. But Manny will need an opponent after that, too, and if not Floyd Mayweather Jr., then the table is going to be open for any and all possible suitors.