Take a look at the fight poster for this Saturday’s WBC middleweight title fight (HBO, 10:30 p.m. ET) and you’ll notice who’s featured prominently. Sergio Martinez is in the forefront, visible, and clearly the focus of the promo. His opponent, Sergiy Dzinziruk is in the background.
For the 35-year-old Ukranian Dzinziruk, it is not a sign of disrespect, just another chapter in a career that has gone generally unnoticed by American boxing fans.
“It’s normal because Segio Martinez is who he is,” Dzinziruk said. “In fact, it gives me more challenge and determination and to show the world that I am the man to beat.”
So far, “man to beat” is the correct title, as he is unbeaten in 37 fights. That said, Martinez is riding high after knocking out Paul Williams in under two rounds, being named Ring Magazine’s Fighter of the Year, and catapulting himself into the conversation as boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter. Dzinziruk knows none of those accolades or press clippings will matter come Saturday.
“He’s feeling more than confident,” Dzinziruk's advisor Harry Kazandjian said. “He had a great camp. He’s been studying the tape and he has known Sergio Martinez’s style for a long time. Previously, he fought a couple of guys with a similar style. For Sergiy, it is a fight. As an opponent, Sergio Martinez is a name, and one that everyone is excited about, but once we get into a ring, Sergiy knows what to do.”
Dzinziruk is climbing up in weight for the fight, from 154 pounds to 160, but that has not been a concern throughout his camp. In fact, Dzinziruk, at 6-foot, to Martinez’s 5-foot-10, is more able to carry the weight.
“No, he feels excellent,” Kazandjian explained. “He has the frame to carry the weight. If you go back to Martinez’s record and most of his career, he was a middleweight and junior middleweight, too, until he moved up to fight Kelly Pavlik. He feels good. He feels stronger.”
The world knows who Sergio Martinez is, but in a flash, the name Sergiy Dzinziruk could become a household name in boxing. With an undefeated record and the WBO super welterweight title already on his resume, he probably already should be. Saturday, he has a chance to prove that.
“Yes, this is one of the biggest opportunities," Kazandjian said. "That’s why he jumped on it and he took the fight right away and it’s the biggest fight in his career and he’s looking forward to winning the title.”
