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Bob Arum spoke about the future options for WBC middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr with RingTV.com, and did name Sergio Martinez as a potential opponent in the (near?) future:
"I think that certainly if Chavez keeps going at the high pace at which he's going, I think that I would like to do a Martinez fight by the end of the year," said Arum.
"In other words, I would probably do a fight in early April or early May for Chavez on HBO, and then, maybe a fight against Margarito. And then Martinez."
So Arum is trying to sell us on the idea that he'll have Chavez fight four times this year. It could happen, I guess. If he takes no punishment against Marco Antonio Rubio on Saturday, then a three-month turnaround into a May fight is doable. I don't know exactly what opponent they think they'd have there, but HBO appears pretty willing to let Top Rank throw Chavez onto the air against any number of no-name opponents, so it may not matter.
The fight with Antonio Margarito, I guess for this summer, makes all the sense in the world financially, but it's a crap fight. Margarito is no middleweight, he's shot, and he has one eye. I just can't see Margarito, a huge welterweight and average junior middleweight, going up to 160 and dealing with a guy who weighs 180 pounds on fight night. It's not like he can punch anymore or anything.
As for Martinez, it's all talk until someone actually does anything. Fact is this interview will be largely forgotten if the time actually comes that Martinez and Chavez truly must fight, or they can just say it doesn't make sense because Martinez isn't worth money, etc. Martinez is currently slated to fight Matthew Macklin on March 17.
I do like this part from Arum regarding Chavez fights against Miguel Cotto or Canelo Alvarez:
"The problem with Cotto and Alvarez is that they want to have Chavez come down to a ridiculously low weight," said Arum. "That's just not possible. He's happy to do it, but he can't. Every time that I see him, the kid is getting taller. He's bigger than Rubio."
He's been bigger than Rubio for a while now, and you know, given that Chavez is 25 and Arum is 80, I think what may be happening is not Chavez getting taller, but Arum shrinking.