Synopsis

In boxing, the road to respect is usually a long one. You put in your time, pay your dues one marginally-more-challenging opponent at a time, and, if you keep winning, ultimately get your shot at the big fight. At least that's how it usually goes. What makes the Sept. 15 middleweight championship bout between Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. so extraordinary is that it completely defies the rules about respect being earned instantly. One minute, this fight fell somewhere between absurdity and atrocity. The next minute, everyone demanded it. And to make things even more unusual, the moment we demanded it, we got it. That doesn't happen very often in boxing.