Martinez to denounce Sulaiman's domestic violence comments

RingTV.com has learned that RING middleweight champion Sergio Martinez will hold a press conference in his native Argentina on Thursday, where he is expected to publicly denounce comments attributed to WBC president Jose Sulaiman that Martinez believes are insensitive to women in general, and particularly to those who have experienced domestic violence.

Ranked No. 3 by THE RING, pound-for-pound, Martinez (48-2-2, 27 knockouts) is also expected to express his disappointment in what he feels is the organization's failure to follow through with last week's mandate that WBC beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (44-0-1, 31 KOs) face Martinez in his next bout.

Top Rank Inc., the promoter of Chavez, announced on Wednesday that the 25-year-old fighter will defend his belt against Marco Antonio Rubio (52-5-1, 45 KOs) on HBO on Feb. 4  at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

"Sergio Maravilla Martinez is his own man. He makes his own decisions and he's very, very upset. But whatever he will say tomorrow, or whatever he tweets today, it's because of his own decisions, and he will follow up with his destiny," said Martinez's advisor Sampson Lewkowicz.

"But he will march on this destiny. He will not allow anyone to dictate his destiny, and in this case, that's the WBC. I believe that the networks and the sanctioning bodies never have had a real human being like Sergio Martinez. They don't understand him. I don't believe that tomorrow, he will be a happy camper."

As a supporter of battered women's issues, Martinez often visits women’s shelters and domestic violence centers, meeting and supporting the victims there. 

According to Lewkowicz, Martinez is "very disappointment" in the words attributed to Sulaiman by boxing writer Ronnie Nathanielsz of The Manila Standard, in which the WBC president appeared to dismiss the physical abuse of women by their male counterparts in general, and, the case of WBC welterweight titleholder Floyd Mayweather Jr., in particular.

{Note: Although Sulaiman could not immediately be reached for comment, he did issue a subsequent statement of clarification which appears at the end of this report.]

As a result of last Wednesday's guilty plea to a charge of misdemeanor battery domestic violence and no contest on two counts of harassment, Mayweather was sentenced by Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa to 90 days in jail starting on January 6. She also ordered him to pay a $2,500 fine, to complete 100 hours of community service and to undergo 12 months of treatment in a domestic violence program.