Sergio Martinez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.: Middleweight War Live from Las Vegas

This Saturday night, the middleweight championship showdown between Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr will go down live from the Thomas and Mack Center on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev.

I will be ringside to give you live updates on the middleweight title clash as the action unfolds.

Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KOs) is one of the most popular Mexican fighters around and will be sure to have a fairly large fanbase in attendance (the fight is on Mexican Independence Day weekend).

Coming into the biggest fight of his career, Chavez Jr. is fresh off his impressive stoppage of Irishman Andy Lee this past June in El Paso, Texas. Chavez Jr. will look to keep his undefeated record in place against Martinez.

Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KOs) is coming into the fight on four-fight early stoppage streak. In his last bout against Matthew Macklin in March, Macklin's corner threw in the towel after he was dropped multiple times late in the bout.

The two will be fighting not only for middleweight supremacy, but also for pound-for-pound rank. The winner will be a legitimate top three or four fighter in the world.

With the tremendous hype surrounding the bout, the Thomas and Mack is sold out (19,186 tickets, per Las Vegas Sun). This new record eclipses the old record (19,151; 1999 heavyweight title fight between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis).

Stay tuned to this live blog for all the fight-week action, including the weigh-in on Friday afternoon and all the fight-day happenings leading up to the main event on Saturday.

You can catch the fight live on HBO pay-per-view beginning at 9 p.m. ET at a cost of $49.95. You can also order the live stream online for $49.95 at VOD iNdemand.

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