Martinez-Chavez Jr. II eyed for Sept. 14

The advisor of RING middleweight champion Sergio Martinez said that the Argentinian fighter will look "to do a rematch" on Sept. 14 with Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., whom Martinez dethroned as WBC titleholder by unanimous decision on Sept. 15 before a sold-out crowd of 19,186 in an HBO Pay Per View-televised clash at the Thomas and Mack Center.

Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum, who promotes Chavez (46-1-1, 32 knockouts), confirmed an assertion by Martinez's advisor, Sampson Lewkowicz, that the two boxers would take interim bouts in the spring prior to their likely reunion.

"Sampson is working on doing a title defense for Martinez in Argentina in the spring, which would be pretty lucrative for Martinez, and which is something that he wants to do," said Arum.

"And in that case, Chavez would take a fight in the spring, and, hopefully both will win, and then we'll do the rematch in the fall, probably around Mexican Independence Day."

Lewkowicz said that Martinez, 37, is scheduled to have surgery on Monday to repair torn ligaments in his right knee, an injury suffered in a fight after which Martinez also  received eight stitches to repair a cut over his left eye, two staples in his head and suffered from what initially appeared to be a broken left hand.

"That's correct. Sergio will have surgery on Monday to repair ligament damage in his right knee. So depending on how Sergio comes out of surgery, he can have a defense in April or May," said Lewkowicz, who later informed BoxingScene.com that Martinez would return on April 27.

"It would be a title defense against a top 10 contender. We would then definitely look to do a rematch with Chavez on Sept. 14, most likely, in the same place."

Much depends, however, on Chavez's eligibility in the wake of his having tested positive for marijuana metabolites consistent with the use of the drug in the aftermath of his loss to Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KOs).

Within a week of the fight, Chavez, 26, declared that he takes "full responsibility for my actions and the consequences thereof" relating to the post-fight positive infraction, which was was confirmed by Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer.

Kizer said Chavez could appear before the NSAC "as early as December" to address his situation. If found guilty, Chavez can be penalized or fined for the entire amount of his $3 million purse, suspended for up to a year, or a combination of both. Martinez pocketed $1.4 million for the bout.

In the fight, Martinez rose from a knockdown in the 12th round after having dominated the first 11, winning by scores of 118-109 on the cards of judges Dave Moretti and Adalaide Byrd, and, 117-110, on that of Stanley Christodoulu.

Chavez, who won a total of just four of the 36 rounds scored by the judges, floored Martinez with a series of blows in the final round that was highlighted by three head-swiveling left hooks. 

Martinez appeared to have twisted his right leg while spiraling to the canvas and also while attempting to support himself by holding onto Chavez.

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com