Sergio Martinez vs. Manny Pacquiao: Better for Boxing if It Doesn't Happen

Literally minutes after Sergio Martinez sent Paul Williams crashing to the canvas with a resounding thud, people were already asking about it.

Not just excited boxing fans posting on the Internet, though there was certainly plenty of that, but even experts like HBO commentator Max Kellerman as he got a word with the middleweight titleholder after his victory. Everyone wanted to know if Martinez would like to fight Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather next.

Such is the state of boxing in 2010, that an exciting and relatively new champion can scarcely even catch his breath after the biggest win of his career without getting thrown into the mix with the lone name (or two names, assuming Mayweather will indeed fight again) around which the whole sport revolves.

On the surface, it's almost an inane question for Martinez. He'd have to be crazy not to want to fight Pacquiao because the money and attention wouldn’t get any better against anyone else.

It's also a reflection of how few enticing opponents are on the horizon for Pac-Man after his thorough dissection of Antonio Margarito just a week ago. Instead of a rematch with Miguel Cotto that few fans are clamoring for, or a meeting with a fading Shane Mosley, why not match Manny with Sergio while the charismatic Argentinian is riding a wave of momentum?

There's no question it would be an exciting matchup for fans, who naturally want to see the best fight the best. The problem is that beyond one night of good ticket sales and pay-per-view buys, it wouldn't be as great for the sport as a whole.

Boxing is always a zero-sum game in the sense that one fighter wins and another loses, but it's increasingly becoming true in the big picture sense as well. True stars are in precious short supply, meaning that it would be foolish to sacrifice one to another, especially one that's just exploding onto the scene.

Maybe that's overstating things just a bit because the loser of a potential Pacquiao-Martinez fight wouldn't be diminished all that much. Pacquiao would suffer no shame losing to a much bigger man, and Martinez could hang his hat on the fact that he was defeated by the pound-for-pound king.

Still, it would be truly unfortunate for Martinez, especially, to take a step backwards when he has such potential for crossover fame. With talent, good looks and an inspiring life story, he's exactly what boxing needs to help reclaim some of its faded luster.

Martinez needs to be the A-side of his own headlining bouts more than he needs to be the B-side to Pacquiao, at least for the next year. It’s true that the middleweight division isn’t overflowing with possibilities either, but surely between 154 and 168 pounds there are at least a few intriguing matches that can be made for him.

At 35, there isn’t a ton of time to capitalize on Martinez’s growing popularity. He’s admitted that he can see himself fighting only about four more times before calling it a career.

The same is true for Pacquiao, who will be turning his efforts to aid the Philippines into his full-time occupation before too long. That still doesn’t mean they need to be rushed into battling each other.

If Pacquiao and Martinez really are the two top dogs in the sport (again, assuming Mayweather is on the sidelines), each man can sit atop a couple of his own cards in 2011. The Pacquiao-Margarito fight is proof that not every outing for elite fighters needs to be for pound-for-pound supremacy to be accepted by the public.

And if both men keep winning, and the size difference between them is deemed to be acceptable—not necessarily a safe assumption, by the way—then Pacquiao-Martinez becomes an even bigger fight in early 2012, just about the time they would be looking to get out of the game anyway.

That’s healthier for boxing in the short-term and the long-term: a rare win-win situation for a sport that could desperately use one.

Martinez should get a chance to savor his moment in the sun and his likely anointment as the 2010 Fighter of the Year. Everything else, including a date with destiny against Pac-Man, can wait.

Nick Tylwalk is the editor and co-founder of BoxingWatchers.com. Follow his Twitter feed @Nick_Tylwalk or the site's feed @boxing_watchers.