Mark Lyons is back with his weekly look at upcoming and recent fights.  In this instalment of One More Round, Mark gives his thoughts on last weekend's HBO show, while looking at ahead to Diaz/Malignaggi and Bradley/Peterson.

Great fight last week in Atlantic City and a bunch of fights coming up this weekend. Forgive me for my brevity, but I’m battling an illness that has knocked me out.

My Take on this Past Weekend's Action...

-- Paul Williams & Sergio Martinez gave the fans all they could expect and then some. Paul showed off his grit and tremendous chin as he leaned into flush power shots and kept on coming. Martinez displayed more toughness than I think anyone thought he had along with his defensive skills and incredibly fast hands.

-- I think we saw the two best 154/160lb fighters in the world giving it all they had, and while I haven’t had a chance to re-watch the fight, on first viewing I had Williams taking the last round and the fight by a point.  Regardless of what that one pathetic scorecard added up to, it was extremely close, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to score it for Sergio the second time around.   Let's do it again!

-- I didn’t even mention Arreola vs Minto last week and probably shouldn't here either.  Shame on HBO for broadcasting such a match-up and for those who called it entertaining, I disagree.  That level of fight might satisfy expectations for an under-card on FNF, but I expect far better quality from HBO.  Not only does Arreola not care to train, he isn’t skilled either. Only a matter of time before his bouncing breasts sail into the sunset as a footnote in the worst Heavyweight era in history.

 

-- Amir Khan was in fine form on Saturday.  Say what you will about his chin, for my money he has the fastest hands in the sport..

Looking ahead to this Weekend...

-- I think Juan Diaz & Paulie Malignaggi delivered a close fight that was better than expected last time out, but not one that really warrants a rematch.  Sometimes people tend to over-react to an underdog performing well and scream "robbery", and the first meeting was one of those times.

-- Look for Paulie to run, hold and stink out the joint in losing the clear and dull decision we all expected the first time.  Diaz will always fight hard, so it wont be unbearable, but I imagine everyone watching will wish they just left it at one fight.

-- Showtime main-event is a whole different story. Two young and undefeated fighters that are very familiar with each other square off for the top spot at Jr Welterweight.  I’m expecting this fight to be tight the whole way with a lot of ebb and flow and sustained action. Bradley is more comfortable coming forward and I think that will benefit the fans and Peterson.

-- I’m taking Lamont by split decision in a mild upset between two guys that will be around the top of this division for quite some time.

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