2009 Spotlight: A Dangerous Step for Joe Greene

At just 22 years old with 20-0 (14 KO’s) record, there seems to be a lot to like about New York prospect ‘Mean ‘ Joe Greene on the surface. Equipped with power in both hands and a willingness to exchange, Greene has produced some nice fireworks thus far in his career but his shortcomings as a fighter have also been clearly abundant and on display with each outing.

While Greene may be young and exciting, most people in the sport will tell you that his upcoming January 17th showdown with ultra-talented Sergio Martinez is a dangerous step for Greene to take at this point in his career.

Currently the interim WBC Jr. Middleweight champion, Martinez was last seen gracing HBO’s airwaves as part of Boxing After Dark tripleheader in early October. Martinez was pitted with battle tested Alex ‘The Technician’ Bunema, who had rejuvenated his career with back to back wins over Roman Karmazin and Walter Matthysse.

The bout was intriguing on paper but as soon as the bell rang Martinez’ established himself as the superior fighter with his speed, elusiveness and pinpoint power punching. In what HBO analyst Jim Lampley basically described as a ‘virtuoso performance’, Martinez battered Bunema so thoroughly and convincingly that the boxing world was left wanting to see much more of the southpaw from Argentina.

That same Martinez is the mountain that Joe Greene has to climb in less than a month and the gut feeling here is that Greene is biting off more than he can chew. Greene used to train down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida under the tutelage of John David Jackson and when he was in camp he was given a hard time in and out of the ropes. While sparring with Super Middleweight contender Allan Green, ‘Mean’ Joe was constantly beaten to the punch and looked rather ordinary every time out.

Those sparring sessions elicited verbal chiding from the spectators, one of whom was the ever vocal Nate Campbell. Campbell claimed that Greene wasn’t a bad fighter but needed to ‘grow up’ in several regards before moving to the next level in his career. It’s hard to imagine that same fighter tangling with a guy like Martinez, whose only loss was over eight years ago to Antonio Margarito.The process of guiding a fighter’s career is one that must be done with belief as well as shrewd calculation.

One has to wonder if Greene and his handlers are overlooking the danger of an opponent of Martinez’ class. With time on his side, the safer route would be let Greene develop a bit further before throwing him to the wolves. Come January 17th we will find out regardless if Joe Greene is capable of raising his game to a new level.