Sergio Martinez, Miguel Cotto and 2 Undefeated Fighters Featured This Weekend
Will the middleweight division be the same after this weekend? That is bound to be in boxing fans' minds as the best fighter in the division prepares to fight.
Sergio Martinez (46-2-2) will be looking to take out undefeated fighter Sergiy Dzinziruk (37-0) this Saturday. The fight will take place at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut and will be aired live on HBO.
Martinez is coming off the biggest win of his career, a second round knockout of Paul Williams, in November. It was the "Knockout of the Year" and earned Martinez the "Fighter of the Year" award from Ring magazine.
Dzinziruk is a worthy challenger but relatively unknown outside of Europe. Eleven of his last 14 bouts have been in Germany, and only one has been fought in the United States. The Ukrainian-born fighter is a slick boxer who arguably possesses one of the best jabs in the business. He will need it Saturday night if he plans on getting past the faster Martinez.
On the undercard, undefeated middleweight Crag McEwan (19-0) will be taking on Andy Lee (24-1). The winner of this fight may very well end up fighting the winner of Martinez vs. Dzinziruk.
Lee has gone 9-0 since his lone defeat, a technical knockout at the hands of Brian Vera. His opponent defeated Vera in 2009 by unanimous decision.
HBO will be airing both fights for free, but there is a Showtime PPV card featuring Miguel Cotto (35-2) and Ricardo Mayorga (29-7-1) in an anticipated junior middleweight bout. The PPV, priced at $49.95, is being promoted by Don King and will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It's safe to say many boxing fans will be watching the Martinez bout over this one, but it is important in determining a quality opponent for Martinez, especially if Cotto wins. A bout between the two was reportedly being scheduled after Martinez's win over Williams, but the fight was not pursued by the promoters.
Cotto will need some time to build himself into the division after moving up from welterweight last year. He defeated Yuri Foreman, who is also featured on the PPV, in June to win the WBA world light middleweight title.
Whatever drama comes out of these three fights, there will still be a lot of quality matchups left to be made in the middleweight division.


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