By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) has reportedly received death threats over the past weekend from an unknown source, and a car parked outside of Martinez’s house was vandalized at his Oxnard, California training camp. It’s unclear if the latter incident ties in with the death threats, but it’s being taken very seriously.

The Sergio Martinez media day that was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, August 28th in Las Vegas has been cancelled.

Martinez is getting ready for his September 15th title fight against WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight is an important one for both fighters and it also brings up a Mexico vs. Argentina match-up, as Martinez is from Argentina and Chavez Jr. from Mexico.

The stakes are incredibly high for both fighters. For Martinez, a win could launch him into much bigger fights against the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr, Miguel Cotto and Saul Alvarez. A loss would pretty much wipe out any chance that he has in facing any of those guys. As far the 26-year-old Chavez Jr., if he wins this fight it could also lead to big money fights against Canelo Alvarez and Cotto.

A fight against Mayweather would be out of the question unless there could be a rehydration limit put on for a fight with Floyd. You couldn’t have Chavez Jr. weighing in at 160 lbs and then rehydrating up to 180 to fight Mayweather, because that would never fly. A loss for Chavez Jr. against Martinez would ruin his chances for big fights, at least on the short term. Chavez Jr. is young enough to still get big fights in the future but a loss would delay those fights until he could be built back up with guys that are less dangerous than Martinez.