"I'd say it's definitely accurate," remarked Sampson Lewkowicz, adviser of Sergio Martinez, when asked if the middleweight king was "Plan B" for Floyd Mayweather should negotiations fall through with Manny Pacquiao. Martinez, who currently holds titles in both the middleweight and jr. middleweight division, was recently stripped of his WBO middleweight title for failure to relinquish his WBC jr. middleweight title. According to Lewkowicz, Martinez has yet to make a decision on whether or not he plans on giving up the title because he's waiting on the decisions of others, namely Floyd Mayweather and HBO. "We're waiting to see what HBO and Mayweather do," Lewkowicz would explain. "If Mayweather decides not to fight Sergio, HBO owes Martinez a fight before the year is over. I strongly believe that he's in the top three fighters that fans like to see. It's Manny, Mayweather and Martinez. He would fight anyone from HBO at 154 or 160."
Although he's more than willing to face any opponent in both divisions, Martinez made it clear that he's hoping to get an opportunity to face Floyd Mayweather at any weight, so long as it's no lower than 154 pounds. "Mayweather is king and he makes the decisions. Mayweather is the best pound-for-pound fighter; it would be a privilege and honor to fight him. I'm waiting for this challenge," Martinez added in a recent interview with FightHype's Mike Juhas. If a bout with Pacquiao fails to come to fruition, Martinez would make for an excellent backup plan, particularly if Mayweather opts to challenge him for his middleweight title. A victory over Martinez at any weight north of 154 pounds, even at a catch-weight, would allow Floyd Mayweather to kill two birds with one stone, making him the king of the middleweight division as well as a 6-division world champion.