A Classic at Boardwalk Hall - Paul Williams Edges Sergio Martinez
by A.F. on Dec 6, 2009 6:46 AM EST
in Post-Fight Analysis/Recaps
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PrintAndrew Fruman recaps last night's thrilling middleweight clash between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez.
What a fight!
Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez put on a show last night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Over 12 wild rounds, the gutsy middleweights traded leather violently, with a bloodied Williams walking away with a majority decision victory.
As expected, Williams came out aggressively, going on the attack with his high volume pressure style. It paid immediate dividends, as the lanky Georgia fighter scored a knockdown with a glancing left hand to the temple only a minute into the contest.
With seconds remaining in the opening frame, Martinez punctuated his statement that this would be no walk in the park, by sending Williams crashing backwards into the ropes and to the canvas. A hard right hook to the side of Williams' jaw did the damage.
Buoyed by his success to close the opening frame, Martinez continued to find the mark in the following two rounds. Circling away from the ever charging Williams, he picked his spots to counter, landing sharp right hooks and straight left hands, while mixing in some body work.
Martinez started the 4th round strongly as well, as he continued to find the mark with sharp counters, including a stinging right hook about 25 seconds in that forced Williams to hold on. Williams immediately responded with a couple of his own right hands that drove Martinez into the ropes and looking to hold. In both instances, Neumann was forced to get in there and pry the fighters apart.
It was that type of night - a slam-bang give and take affair, with enough holding to keep the man in charge extremely busy, but not enough to mar the entertainment value of the never boring bout.
Martinez held his advantage until the closing moments of the round, when after Neumann had separated the fighters from another clinch, Williams landed a hard left hand on the button. Stunned by the shot, Martinez immediately grabbed a hold of Williams, and in the ensuing tangle, the fighters heads came together awkwardly leaving blood oozing from a nasty gash over Williams' left eye.
Williams looked the stronger of the two fighters as he came out for the 5th, but didn't fully get going until Martinez caught him flush with a straight left hand. Jolted by the shot, Williams fired back hard, with a right hook, straight left, right hook combination. A little later in the round, Williams again got the better of an exchange, landing a hard combination after Martinez had stung him with a left hand.
Williams kept his momentum going in the next couple rounds, as Martinez appeared to be struggling slightly with the pace. His legs didn't quite have the same bounce as earlier in the bout, and in order to keep the busy Williams at bay, was starting to initiate more of the clinches while not popping counters with the same authority.
Martinez wasn't out of tricks though, and along with a second wind, brought a new wrinkle to the proceedings in the 8th round, firing straight left hands to the taller man's wide open midsection. Over and over, he found the target with the punch, and towards the end of the round started mixing his right hook back into his arsenal, one of which landed flush, backing Williams up as it snapped his head back.
Barely touched over the 3 minutes by Williams' return fire, the round was the most dominant so far for either man in the fight.
The 9th was another strong one for Martinez, who stayed at long range, slipping most of what Williams threw, while picking his spots nicely. Williams was now looking a little fatigued, and slightly uncertain of himself, as he struggled to mount an attack against the in and out style Martinez was employing.
Martinez scored with two hard left hands upstairs in the opening minute of the 10th, as well as a couple more over the final minute of the round. In what was a relatively tame round, Williams struggled to respond with much in return against the cagey Martinez, although he landed a decent left just before the bell.
The action intensified in the 11th, and despite looking spent at times, it was Martinez once again appearing to have the better of it. He was sitting down more on his shots than Williams, landing cleaner and with more authority. Williams was still coming forward, and still letting his hands go, but not landing with the same accuracy or sharpness as Martinez.
There was one sequence that started with about 40 seconds left in the round in which Martinez landed a right hook, and followed it up with a straight left and another right hook. Williams fired back with his own left, but it was a glancing blow, and Martinez immediately banged home another combination. Williams - as game as they come - fired back with a couple of lefts, barely missing with the first, and missing wildly with the second.
Martinez had the early edge in the closing frame, but with about 90 seconds to go, Williams started to come on. With his back almost touching the ropes, Williams landed a right hook, left hand combination, and immediately followed it up with another quick flurry, and as Martinez looked to hold, Williams landed a couple of short shots on the inside.
The final minute was a struggle to the finish, with Williams showing a tad more energy, as Martinez looked like he was struggling at times to stay upright.
At the final bell, both fighters were lifted up by their corners, as the appreciative crowd applauded their effort.
As was reflected on judges Lynne Carter and Julie Lederman's cards, the fight was a close one. Carter had the bout 115-113 in favour of Williams, while Lederman was unable to separate the two gutsy southpaws, turning in a card of 114-114.
Shockingly - or maybe not so shockingly given some of the cards we've seen this year - the deciding ballot featured an outrageous tally, with judge Pierre Benoist inexplicably having Williams in front 119-110.
A bewildered Sergio Martinez shrugged his shoulders at the announcement of the bizarre final card.
This writer scored the bout 115-113 for Martinez.
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great fight
martinez handled william’s southpaw style better than i thought, gave every bit as much as he got. rematch anyone?
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