Chavez, Martinez don’t hold back as they promote Sept. 15 bout

There's nothing like a little hate to sell a fight.

If Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sergio Martinez can throw punches as effectively as they and their camps have been talking, their Sept. 15 showdown at the Thomas & Mack Center for Chavez's WBC middleweight title should be a classic.

Everyone was trying to get a negative word in edgewise Wednesday at Wynn Las Vegas as the four-city promotional tour hit town. There were so many syllables being bandied about, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum didn't have to say much to hype the fight.

"I see he (Chavez) works out with a (baseball) bat," Martinez said. "Maybe he should bring a bat to the fight. That's the only way he can win."

Martinez then turned to Chavez's father, the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez, and said: "You should take a picture of your son because you're not going to recognize him after I get through with him on Sept. 15. You'll need DNA to identify him."

Martinez's trainer, Pablo Sarmiento, took it from there.

"Junior is not an athlete, and he's not a boxer," Sarmiento said. "If Bob Arum wants to make a lot of money, he should sell advertising on the bottom of Junior's shoes, because that'll be the first thing the television cameras show."

Martinez (49-2-2, 28 knockouts) said the trash-talking is not to sell the HBO pay per view.

"I don't talk just for the sake of talking," he said, before pointing to his heart. "When I say something, it comes from here."

Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KOs) said he's glad to finally get Martinez in the ring after being verbally attacked by the 37-year-old Argentine for the past two years.

"I have this great opportunity to shut his mouth," Chavez Jr. said. "He doesn't believe in my talent, and he wants to underestimate me? On Sept. 15, he's in for a big surprise."

Chavez Jr., 26, trained in Las Vegas before his seventh-round technical-knockout win over Andy Lee on June 16 in El Paso, Texas. He plans to return to town to prepare for Martinez, a former WBC middleweight champ who scored an 11th-round TKO over Matthew Macklin on St. Patrick's Day in New York in his most recent appearance.

Chavez Sr. said, in the end, Martinez will be running. "When they're in the ring, we'll see who the chicken is," he said.

Tickets for the fight, which will go head-to-head against a card at the MGM Grand Garden featuring WBC junior middleweight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Josesito Lopez in the main event, will go on sale at noon today at the Thomas & Mack box office, Town Square Las Vegas Concierge and at UNLVtickets.com. Prices are $25 to $600.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.