Thank God for Paul "the Punisher" Williams (39-1, 27 KOs) and Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez (45-2-2, 24 KOs). Martinez and Williams .jpg)
fought the best fight last year. And they are poised to participate in one of 2010’s best.
Last year, I picked Paul Williams to defeat Sergio Martinez by late stoppage. This year, I am not so sure.
My boxing fight predictor is forecasting a highly-competitive decision victory for Martinez. Why? He has superior hand speed, footwork, defense and ring generalship. All signs point to a comfortable victory for Maravilla.
If it were only that simple.
As we all know, Paul Williams is no slouch. He still stands 6’1" tall the last time that I checked. He also has an ungodly 82" reach – the kind of reach that can be found on some heavyweights. But Williams is more than just a tall, lanky figure.
"The Punisher" has slightly better punching power, has fought slightly better competition (i.e. he decisioned Antonio Margarito while Martinez was kayoed by him earlier in his career) and has a slightly better chin than Martinez.
Despite my overuse of the term "slightly," Williams has one significant advantage that my fight predictor does not account for. It does not account for rematches, and the lessons learned from them.
I have a sneaking suspicion that Williams and his handlers will try to replicate their success in the return bout against Carlos Quintana. Look for Williams to fight "taller," and use his height and reach much better than he did in Williams-Martinez I. If he does that, Martinez’s chances decrease exponentially.
In what promises to be one of the year’s best fights, look for Paul Williams to eke out another close, but non-controversial decision in two weeks in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
can’t wait to see the fight, i waited the whole year for the punisher to fight!
Great fight! In the words of Smokie “You got knocked the fuck oooouut!!!!”
@Gabriel I shoulda stuck with my original prediction, but even I didn’t see THAT coming. No one did; the Jersey crowd was stunned! Sergio is a VERY talented fighter, but I hope he doesn’t think he’s a puncher now. He needs to stick to being a counter-punher, because a well-timed counter-punch set up the KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR! Yeah, that was it! Where does Paul go from here? I think he needs a new trainer (perhaps Emmanuel Steward) who will get him to use his freakish height, reach and stamina to basically control any man shorter than him. Because if he continues to fight like this; he’ll be hit-and-miss from here on out in big fights.
i really thought b hop won, especially when the first round ‘knockdown’ was caused by an illegal punch.
I thought he won too, but the fact that he got dropped twice (probably only once legitimately as you point out tough) and was fighting in dude’s hometown, you knew he wouldn’t get the nod. Pascal is so awkward and unimpressive; I’m hoping Dawson re-tools and bust his you know what…if not, then he’s in line to get schooled by Lucian Bute.