Sergio Martinez Deserves Our Admiration for Disowning the WBC and HBO

Sergio Martinez has had enough. In a press conference in his homeland of Argentina, Martinez blasted the WBC, HBO, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and his handlers Freddie Roach and Bob Arum.

"I hate the cowardice that Chavez has taken on, as well as that of his coach, Freddie Roach, and Bob Arum in avoiding every day the fight with me and promoting him as a champion in the boxing world, which is a lie," said Martinez.

"I never thought that a world champion would avoid somebody this way," he said. "Unfortunately, this sort of attitude can hurt our sport."

The anger that Martinez expressed seems perfectly fair. Ever since his stunning KO of Paul Williams, he has had trouble getting big-money fights.

At 36, time will soon be catching up with him. Now with a big-name titleholder potentially on the card, the chance has been snatched away from him so that a popular fighter won't have a dreaded loss on his record.

Martinez has also decided to drop his WBC "Diamond" title (nope, I have no idea either). This is a result of the organization refusing to follow up with its statement last week that made Martinez the mandatory challenger to Chavez Jr.'s title.

The alphabet titles that plague modern boxing have become a sad joke. Whether it's the WBC stripping Tim Bradley of his belt so that Erik Morales can have it instead, or the ridiculous "Super Champions" and "Diamond belts," these organizations are so out of touch with the regular fan it's laughable.

Jose Sulaiman's deplorable comments regarding domestic abuse just served as another sorry chapter in a depressing book.

So, Martinez's decision to vacate his WBC belt and only defend his Ring Magazine title comes as a welcome move. While people may have some problems with the magazine's ratings, they are a lot better and more transparent than the alphabet organization's lists.

Martinez also turned his anger on HBO and expressed a desire to dump the network and jump ship to Showtime following its decision to make Martinez face Sergei Dzinziruk instead of Sebastian Zbik, causing Martinez to lose the title.

The title was then won by Chavez Jr., facing Zbik on, you guessed it, HBO.

A champion who has given us so many thrilling fights in recent years deserves better than this, and good for him for refusing to take it lying down.

Martinez then showed a refreshing desire to fight the best he can, calling out Andre Ward as a possible future opponent. He even stated a willingness to move up to 168 pounds to make the fight happen. His handlers may never let that fight happen, but we can all hope.

In reality, Martinez's move will probably have no effect on how the alphabet organizations are operated, but he certainly deserves admiration for standing up for himself.

Maybe if other boxers followed the Argentinian's lead, then things might begin to change.

Or maybe I'm just dreaming.

What do you think of Martinez's actions? Should other boxers follow his example and stand up to boxing's money men? Comment below.