by Salvador Rodriguez

Middleweight king Sergio 'Maravilla' Martinez (48-2-2, 27KOs) is only one fight away from a potential clash with WBC 160-pound champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1, 31KOs). This coming Saturday, Martinez faces Matthew Macklin at New York's Madison Square Garden.

If Martinez wins, WBC President Jose Sulaiman advised BoxingScene.com that the negotiations period for a mandatory fight between Chavez and Martinez - will begin on Monday, March 19th.

"On Monday, the negotiations period will begin. If they don't reach an agreement in a month, we'll proceed to a purse bid and the champion will receive 60% of the winning bid and the challenger will get 40%," Sulaiman said.

At December's WBC convention in Las Vegas, Chavez was ordered to fight Martinez. The WBC allowed Chavez to fight Marco Antonio Rubio in February - but he claims that his organization will refuse to sanction a possible June fight between Chavez and British boxer Martin Murray.

"It is not Chavez who does not want the fight, it is his promoter [Top Rank]. They will say that Martinez does not sell [tickets or pay-per-view], but there is no turning back, because a decision was made at [last year's] convention," Sulaiman said.

Salvador Rodriguez covers boxing in Mexico for The Record.