Did Vanes Martirosyan make the right decision in turning down a WBC final eliminator against Erislandy Lara? Does Canelo's September 15 pay-per-view date all but kill Martinez/Chavez? Does Amir Khan have Victor Ortiz in his future? Find out the answer to these questions and more in this week's edition of "From Pillar to Post."
Contract My Ass! Alvarez Pay-Per-View Signals No-Go for Martinez/Chavez
I don't mean to stay talking about the WBC, but a few weeks ago on their Twitter page, they claimed that they had a contract saying that the winner of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr./Andy Lee would face Sergio Martinez in September. I balked at telling them that they aren't promoters. Well, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer confirmed over the weekend that September 15 was going to be Saul Alvarez's pay-per-view debut on HBO in Las Vegas. September 15 was the supposed target date of Chavez/Martinez.
Of course this confirms my suspicion that Chavez/Martinez was never going to happen and that if Antonio Margarito is healthy enough to fight, he'll get the shot. The real question is that as it looks unlikely Chavez/Martinez gets done, does the WBC strip Chavez for not intending to defend against his mandatory challenger or do they make Martinez a two-time WBC champion in recess? That just goes to show fight fans that if anybody is talking about a signed contract and it isn't a promoter or somebody who directly represents a fighter, it's hearsay until otherwise proven.
Vanes Martirosyan: Doing the Right Thing the Wrong Way
Bitching, moaning, crying and groaning has pretty much been the story when it comes to undefeated Jr. Middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan in regards to landing a meaningful fight for quite some time. Martirosyan has been the #1 ranked fighter at 154 by the WBC since last June after his win over Saul Roman and has been hoping that the merit of his ranking would result in a match with WBC Champion Saul Alvarez, but being that the WBC isn't quite willing to stop collecting sanctioning fees from Alvarez yet, it hasn't come close to happening. The WBC wanted to dick around with Martirosyan a bit more by enforcing a "final eliminator" against Erislandy Lara, but Martirosyan turned it down when the WBC couldn't commit to enforcing a mandatory with Alvarez.
I agree, to a degree, with Martirosyan's decision to not fight Lara as he's been the #1 contender for over a year and Alvarez has already fought twice since that time, and no mandatory has been assigned in order to keep the belt on him. Being that the WBC is biased towards Mexican fighters, it's no surprise that they are enforcing a mandatory to begin with. They are scum. Martirosyan said he wants to pursue other champions who are more willing to fight him, but Martirosyan's knack for turning down fights against solid opponents isn't going to make that a reality either.
Turning down Lara is one thing, but Martirosyan also didn't want to go down to Mexico to fight Alfredo Angulo, who was knocked out by James Kirkland that night. His lack of television appearances and his perceived invisibility of his promoter, Top Rank, are not going to make him a viable opponent for any titlist, and continuing to fight TBAs on the non-televised portion of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. undercards isn't helping him either. It could've just been more beneficial to fight Lara, beat him (doubtful), and transition that to a title shot, but that probably just flew over his head.
Khan to Follow Pre-Peterson Road Map.
Now that the Lamont Peterson/Amir Khan rematch is officially off thanks to the findings of elevated testosterone in Peterson, Khan will not fight next weekend and will return in late June or early July. Possible opponents mentioned have been Lightweight champion Miguel Vasquez and his former conqueror Breidis Prescott. The fight will be at Junior Welterweight and Khan will more than likely be reinstated as champion once a No Contest is declared in regards to the first Peterson fight, which I believe will be the case. Following that, Khan should move according to plan and head up to Welterweight where he'll try to make his case for a Floyd Mayweather fight, but the likelihood of it happening may not be very favorable.
Instead, I expect Khan to be maneuvered first into a fight with Robert Guerrero should he get past Selcuk Aydin in July, and that will set up a clash with Golden Boy's other marketable fighter in Victor Ortiz should he beat Andre Berto next month. Khan/Ortiz would have initially been the gauge to build hype for a Mayweather clash, but it's still a very good fight to make and extremely fan-friendly, so I wouldn't doubt it if Golden Boy deviates from this road map. Expect an announcement regarding Khan's opponent within the next few weeks.
Danny Howard can be reached for comments or questions at dhoward@fighthype.com, Facebook, or follow him on Twitter (@DBHOWARD126). Also don't miss an episode of FightHype Radio, the baddest two hours of boxing on the planet, starting at 8pm EST.
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