I will not hide the disappointment that I felt when the middleweight title fight between reigning champion Kelly Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) 
and Paul the Punisher Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) was cancelled. Replacing Pavlik is the very capable Sergio Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs). However, I had my taste buds all set for a nice sirloin steak (Pavlik-Williams) but had to settle for a tasty burger with fries (Williams-Martinez). Both fights are beefy, but the former obviously had more meat to it than the latter. But I’ll stop being greedy and will accept the fact that Williams-Martinez is a pretty damn good fill-in.
Speaking of pretty damn good, Paul Williams is just that. Right now, I think he is one of the five or six best boxers in the world. Very few fighters combine his uncanny blend of height (he stands 6’1"), reach (he has a heavyweight-like 82 inch reach) and punch output (he often throws 100+ punchers per round). To say that Sergio Martinez will have his hands full is an understatement. In fact, it’s more like his face will be full of hands, as I expect the Punisher to beat him into submission.
For those of you who think Martinez will win, you will probably point to Williams’ struggles with another slick southpaw Carlos Quintana (26-2, 20 KOs) nearly two years ago. In the lone loss of Williams’ career, he was totally out-slicked by Quintana over 12 brisk rounds. Four months later, Williams annihilated Quintana in a rematch via first round knockout. And most recently, Williams dominated one of the slickest southpaws in recent years when he nearly pitched a shutout against Winky Wright (51-5-1, 25 KOs).
When the dust settles, Paul Williams will emerge victorious via 9th round stoppage. OK, I’m off to get a burger.
Hey what’s up? I also believe that Paul Williams should win this one by a late stoppage. I do believe Sergio Martinez is a good fighter but then I realize he has some flaws. His competition is not all that great after I analyzed it. If I’m correct his best win was to Alex Bunema. He beat Cintron but it was considered a draw (I won’t even get started there) and he lost to Antonio Margarito. Plus, Martinez is moving up in weight which could be a big factor. Williams on the other hand is riding with some big momentum and is out to prove he is one of the best p4p fighters in the sport. I hope this win set’s up something big for Williams in 2010.
@Lucio: What’s up Sweet Lou? I see it exactly as you do – are you basically just repeating what I am saying? ha, ha But I am like you, upon further inspection, Martinez’s resume is VERY suspect. You can tell he’s fast of hand and foot, but dominating Bunema, who is really a B/B+ (at best) fighter, should not be one’s crowning achievement.
GREAT fight and a GREAT way to end the (major) boxing year. I could easily have seen that decision going to Martinez but actually (for once) scored it the same way as Harold Lederman (117-115 Williams). I coulda lived with a draw too, but that 119-110 score in favor of Williams was sicker than the swine flu!
aaahh, the sweet science of boxing…. Good job Paulie!
hey ja, u wer certainly abt the outcome just wrong abt who would win the fight, while very entertaining paul wasn’t quite able to pull that one out. I can’t quite figure out why paul wms’ team can’t teach that talented young man to sit down on his punches and fight taller. With the right training that you man could be much more effective.
the fight was great.. instant classic but i feel that martinez was robbed.. i could agree on a draw but i feel martinez had the majority of solid hits… even though williams threw twice as many punches than martinez alot of them were not on target and were just glances… the damage of the fight def went williams way.. he took some great shots so i give him props on that but i still have to say martinez def made a name and def deserves a rematch
@jabbo, I think Emmanuel Steward would be the perfect trainer for him. He’s be even more avoided though, if he fought more pointed, behind a jab and punching down on folks, but I totally agree. You can still tell that he’s raw (and lacking much amateur experience). His insane athletic ability and strong will pretty much seem him through – but I do feel that he looked much more technical against Winky Wright. Take nothing away from Sergio, because he’s slick.
Snyder, hard to argue your points. Although I saw it 115-113 for Williams or a draw, I could easily see 115-113 for Martinez. That being said, I would LOVE to see a rematch. I’d favor Williams (again) slightly because he will have seen tricky Martinez already, will likely fight taller, and will recall similar adjustments he made against Quintana. He made a serious tactical error, thinking that he could simply walk Martinez down without ramifications. It was eerily similar to his first fight with Quintana, where he just walked into counter-punches and followed Carlos around. Paul is so determined that even when being out-slicked, he can get off enough shots to make it competitive. The guess here is that in the rematch, he’ll fight taller, throw less punches, and put more juice on them. Sergio will still be tough because he as that great equalizer – speed.
Rematch for sure! With P.W’s uncany matrix-like conformability it’s no doubt he would be the victor, i guess whats so frustrating to see is a young man so talented go into these wars ie quintana,margarito, and now martinez while he is certainly the greater more talent, so undertrained. While certainly not undercondition, young Paul is very unschooled and therefore fighting on instinct and adrenaline. Come and get him Emmanual Steward would be a great fit.
@jabbo Yezzir, that’s the elixir for the Punisher’s boxing ills. Let’s not ignore Sergio Martinez’s skill. And I’ll also add that the rematch would not likely be AS easy as his with Quintana. It’s funny, this fight was almost a carbon copy of his situation with Quintana in their first bout. He was slated to battle a tall, rangy, power-punching right hander in Kermit Cintron at the time (like Pavlik), Cintron backed out due to injury (like Pavlik), and then he was pitted against an avoided, slick southpaw in Martinez (like Quintana, but even better). This time around, he eked out a victory, but the similarities are crazy.
agreed, agreed and agreed, can’t wait to see it!