Nearly 12 months after their first Fight of the Year candidate encounter in Atlantic City, Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez have to come to terms for a November 20 rematch slightly below the middleweight limit.
Last December, Williams opted to face Martinez at 160 pounds due to Kelly Pavlik being unable to defend his title with a staph infection. The fight resulted in each man suffering knockdowns in the first round, and engaging in intense back and forth action for the remainder of the bout. In the end, Williams won a hotly debated majority decision
In his very next bout, Martinez faced Pavlik and won the middleweight championship in an impressive performance. Williams went on to score a technical decision win over Kermit Cintron in May.
Much attention has been given to the catchweight of 157 pounds. Martinez came in at 159 in their first bout, while Williams tipped the scales at 157. Even though Martinez is the middlweight champion, his promoter Lou DiBella says it was a request that Williams’ camp refused to budge on.
“It’s at 157 because we didn’t have a choice,” DiBella told ESPN. “Williams wanted the catch weight. There was an issue on the weight and we gave on the weight.”
The rematch once again lands at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. After a string of recent PPVs from Golden Boy, and Top Rank gearing up for ones in November and December, DiBella is happy to gives fans quality boxing without them having to spend extra money.
“Martinez is not afraid of anybody and we did the deal that HBO wanted us to do,” said DiBella, who went through several negotiations this year with Williams’s promoter Dan Goossen. “My take on the fight it’s the best fucking fight the rest of the year. Period. It’s the best fight for fight fans and they don’t have to fork over $60 to watch it on pay-per-view.”
Martinez-Williams II airs live November 20 on HBO Championship Boxing.
*************************************************************************
November is my birthday month and this is one present that I’m highly anticipating!
I was familiar with Sergio Martinez going into the first fight, but I was still surprised at the war he and Williams engaged in. On my scorecard, I preferred Martinez’s harder scoring punches, and had him winning a close decision. I didn’t mind Williams picking up the majority decision win, but the one scorecard of 119-110 by Pierre Benoist was ridiculous. The other two (115-113 Williams, 114-114) were much closer to what actually happened that night.
Regarding the catchweight, I believe Williams’ team is banking on Martinez now being a full-fledged middleweight instead of the 154-pound fighter he was last year. If so, that means there is a small possibility that the 157 weight would weaken him. They know Martinez is going to land big on Williams in this fight, as the Punisher throws at high volume and often ignores defense. If Martinez struggles to make weight, Williams stands a much better chance of outlasting him down the stretch. The Punisher would also benefit from Maravilla having less punching power.
The rematch is essentially a pick ’em fight. Right now, I’m leaning towards Martinez. As the better boxer, Martinez has that option and showed in the last fight he can hang in a brawling battle of attrition. Williams, on the other hand, will only be able to win this fight through non-stop, high punch volume pressure. I think if Martinez is less flat-flooted and mixes up his offense evenly, he’ll be very difficult to beat.
We’ll have a clearer picture of this contest once both men are in training camp.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 