Sergio Martinez, 45, is still determined to make a comeback after six years away from the sport.
Martinez announced in February that he was training in his native Spain and planned to fight again. He even had a date and site, June 6 in Madrid. However, that went by the wayside in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I need it, I want to do this comeback,” the former two-division champ told The Ring. “I want to check my feelings in the ring and feel the punches again. Then we will see [what I can do].”
Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) had hoped to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a rematch but, after Chavez went a different direction, he’s now targeting countryman Kerman Lejarraga (30-2, 24 KOs), according to BoxingScene.com. He hopes to fight late this year or early next year.
“I think it would be a good fight,” Martinez said. “He is a good boxer, he looks very strong. It is a fight that would make me excited. It would be a duel of very different styles. I would like it very much, it excites me.
“Kerman is very strong and he has also been active. I have not fought for six years. I think that maybe I should have had a fight before to have contact with the mat, the ropes, the ring … because it is different from the one you train in.
“As much as I am doing well in training, I think the most logical thing would be to do a fight. With Kerman it will be between December and January. I will be almost 46 years old, I am aware of that.
“… It doesn’t seem crazy. Where it happens, in Madrid or Bilbao, there may be an audience. In Spain there may be a lot of people. I’ll keep training and at any time there will be news [about the pandemic subsiding] and then we will know [when the fight will take place].”
Martinez last fought on June 7, 2014, when he was stopped in 10 rounds by Miguel Cotto. The Spanaird’s knee was so damaged from his first fight with Chavez that he was essentially a one-legged boxer against Cotto.
Time has allowed his body to heal.
“Boxing is my life,” Martinez told The Ring. “Everything was wrong in my last fight against Cotto: training camp, the injuries, my knee. Now, I am feeling really good and my knees are better. All these years of rest were very good for my knees and elbows.”
He went: “I was training to do the rematch against Chavez, but he let me down at the last minute. Since then, I’ve been training for a fight. None of the big names want to face me, and this is why I will make a comeback in a small show in Spain. We don’t have too much of a budget but, for sure, the opponent will be a tough one.”