Neither is a top-100 fighter in the history, but they might be in the top-300. So, which one of these ranks higher all time? Martinez with a brief stint as an undisputed middleweight champion and a p4p top-3 guy, or Barkley with several title belts and the wins over Hearns?
Yeah, hard to say. I wouldn't consider either an ATG or anything. Maravilla did have a longer run, but Barkley was fighting much better opposition. H2H, I'd take Barkley. I don't trust Martinez's chin against The Blade's power.
I think Martinez was better at 160, but I wouldn't pick him to win. Martinez has nothing to top beating Hearns twice, and three weights beats one.
The reason I ask this is that a Finnish scrub fights Martinez tomorrow and I started to think if he was the best guy a Finn has ever fought (obviously not at his recent condition). The other options are Barkley, and Joe Brown. Personally I think Martinez is narrowly better than Barkley
Joe Brown was several levels better than both Martinez and Barkley. He was one of the greatest lightweights ever. So, if a Finn fought Brown, he's the best opponent a Finn ever faced.
Yeah, it's like - good middleweight, good middleweight, and oh yeah, an all time great lightweight. Barkley and Martinez couldn't shine Old Bones' shoes.
I found the rating of Martinez and Barkley as the more important and tricky question, that's why I didn't mention it
To answer the question though, I rate Barkley over Martinez. And I think Martinez actually goes down as one of the weaker unified/lineal champs in MW history.
A Finn fought Teofimo, and Teofimo figures to have a better career than Barkley/Martinez when he's done. Or at least, he has a real shot at doing so.
As a middleweight he wasn't all that I agree. But he was a light middle who defeated a strong middleweight champ and deserved his high p4p ranking
Btw I looked for some all-time lightweight rankings. The best rating I found for Brown was at boxinscene, where he was 16th. I know lightweight is historically a very deep division and that rating might be higher than what Martinez or Barkley would get in any division, but Brown isn't exactly Henry Armstrong either
This list has him rated as high as #11: The 50 Greatest Lightweights of all Time Part Four: 20-11. He's a HoFer who set a new record for number of LW title defenses. Disregard any list that doesn't have him at least in the top 20.
There's also an astronomical gap in skill between Brown and Barkley/Martinez. Martinez tried to "box" but was really a leap amateur with a lot of athleticism.... Barkley didn't even pretend he was a technician. Old Bones was a beautiful operator in there.
A good friend of mine, a long time boxing guy described Martinez as a "real good amateur in some circles."
Virtually IMPOSSIBLE to Call; a Matter of Preference... Personally, REED Would Rank Maravilla Higher Based On Being the More GIFTED Fighter...@ The Same Time, Even REED Has to Admit He's Rewatched MORE Iran Barkley Bouts Than Sergio Martinez Bouts... Neither Man was TRULY "Great", But Martinez Certainly LOOKED the Part More Often Than Barkley Did... REED
Boxing News: Sergio Martinez stops Koivula on cut » December 19, 2020 (fightnews.com) Martinez is back
