This past Saturday, I stopped by the World Crown Sports training center in Oxnard, California to catch a few words with the middleweight champion himself, Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez. By the time I walked in, he had already worked up a sweat and was in the middle of pounding the bags. The one word to describe his workout is FOCUSED. Despite still being seven weeks out from his hugely anticipated rematch with Paul Williams on November 20, his body looked like shredded steel with virtually no body fat. He's probably capable of dehydrating to 160 by tomorrow if he had to.
Every punch he threw was at full speed and with bad intentions. The intense look on his face gave the impression of a general unpleasant disposition. During the hour I watched him work out, there were several times we crossed paths, and yet, he never acknowledged me once. No eye contact, no "who are you," no nothing! At one point, I was practically in his face snapping pics of him on the heavy bag and still no response.
Fortunately though, Sergio Martinez is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet in the sport. Once training is over, he goes out of his way to be polite, friendly, and courteous to everyone in the gym even though the rest of the camp at World Crown speaks of him as if he's an earthly deity.
I had been briefed beforehand that he's a compelling speaker, and it's true. Martinez talks like an esteemed university professor - passionate in his delivery, expressive in his thoughts, and confident in his beliefs. Not surprisingly, the one subject that seemed to rock his boat was Paul Williams. A rematch between the two seemed obvious, but neither camp seemed too eager until HBO put their foot down and practically demanded it.
You can't blame the fighters though.
In an interview recently, Williams made reference to their fights as being fun for the fans, but not for the fighters, and he was right. Their first was an all out war with too many razor-thin rounds to count, leaving fans with no more of an answer as to who's the better fighter than they were before the opening bell. In many close, competitive fights, boxers often seem content with simply going into autopilot and letting the cards fall where they be. In Martinez and Williams' clash, both fighters seemed relentless in trying to take control of the fight and left themselves completely exhausted by the end of the twelfth, with Williams getting the judge's nod, although most feel it could have gone either way.
Martinez sounded intent on not letting this one go to the cards.
Click here for a transcript of my interview with Sergio Martinez