THE time has come for Sergio Martinez’s reign as WBC World Middleweight champion to come to an end, says Ricky Hatton.

And he believes St Helens’ own Martin Murray can be the one to end it.

The 30-year-old former British, Commonwealth and current interim WBA champion flew out to Argentina on Tuesday ahead of his world title shot at the 50,000 seat Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires on Saturday, April 27.

Facing one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters in the world in his own backyard, not many have given Murray a hope ahead of what will easily be the biggest fight of his career.

But two-time world champion ‘The Hitman’ believes the 38-year-old Martinez is far from unstoppable.

“Every good champion’s reign has to come to an end sometime,” said Hatton, who is no stranger to an upset after he completed what many experts believe to be one of the greatest victories by a British boxer when forcing Kostya Tszyu to retire after 11 rounds in 2005.

“It happened with Kostya Tszyu, it happened with me and it happens with all of us.

“It is all about timing and I think this is the right fight at the right time.”

“Martin is in a very similar position to when I fought Kostya Tszyu, nobody gave me a chance and I used that to my advantage.

“All I kept thinking was ‘Your time has gone, it is my time now’ and that is the sort of attitude that Martin has to have.”

Murray’s battling draw with WBA Super Middleweight champion Felix Sturm in Germany in December 2011 proved to the boxing world that Murray deserved to have his chance against the sport’s elite.

But taking on Martinez - a man recently voted as Argentina’s leading sportsman ahead of Lionel Messi - in his first fight on home soil for more than 10 years leaves even that career-defining battle in the shade.

“It is by far the biggest fight of my career,” said Murray.

“Mentally I have just been preparing for Martinez being one of the toughest fights of my life.

“It is not going to go all my own way at times, so I have been getting my head around fighting a 12 round war.”

Hatton believes that is a tactic that could serve the St Helens-born fighter well, pushing the ageing champion to the limit and testing his stamina over all 12 rounds.

And he is in no doubt that a Murray victory on April 27 would rank alongside his historic win.

“Martinez is 38 years of age, so keep the pressure on him and make him work,” said Hatton.

“Make him use those 38 year old legs and build the pressure, make him do more and more and hopefully he’ll get him down the straight.

“My fight against Kostya Tszyu was seen as one of the best wins ever by a British fighter, well I honestly think if Martin can go over there and beat the third best pound-for-pound fighter in the world in front of 40,000 home fans then I think that would eclipse even my win.

“It would be one of the best wins by an English fighter ever.”