Sergio Martínez vs. Paul Williams II

The Explosive Rematch

Date	November 20, 2010
Venue	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBC and The Ring middleweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Sergio Martínez Paul Williams Nickname "Maravilla" "The Punisher" Hometown Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina Aiken, South Carolina, U.S. Pre-fight record 45–2–2 (24 KO) 39–1 (27 KO) Age 35 years, 8 months 29 years, 3 months Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) 6 ft 1+1⁄2 in (187 cm) Weight 157+1⁄2 lb (71 kg) 156 lb (71 kg) Style Southpaw Southpaw Recognition WBC and The Ring Middleweight Champion The Ring No. 6 ranked pound-for-pound fighter 2-division world champion WBC/The Ring No. 2 Ranked Middleweight The Ring No. 5 ranked pound-for-pound fighter Former welterweight champion
Result
Martínez wins via 2nd–round KO

Sergio Martínez vs. Paul Williams, billed as The Explosive Rematch, was the rematch between Martínez and Williams which took place on November 20, 2010.

Background

They last fought in December 2009 with Williams winning a controversial 12-round majority decision at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Williams landed more shots in the fight, but Martínez landed the cleaner punches throughout.

Martínez was making his first title defense after defeating Kelly Pavlik for the WBC, WBO, Lineal and The Ring middleweight titles on April 17, 2010. Williams had also fought once since their initial meeting, winning a four-round technical decision against Kermit Cintron in a May junior middleweight bout, after Cintron fell out of the ring and injured his head.

One of the reasons it took so long to finalize Martínez-Williams II was because the Williams camp was not eager for the fight. Dan Goossen hoped to line up a big fight for Williams at welterweight, where he used to hold a title, against an opponent such as Manny Pacquiao or Shane Mosley.

When promoter Lou DiBella ran out of patience waiting for the Williams side to accept the fight in mid-August, DiBella cut off talks and offered the fight to junior middleweight contender Alfredo "El Perro" Angulo, a network staple in recent years. However, when Angulo turned down $750,000, a career-high purse by more than double, Martínez's camp made another run at Williams and this time accepting the fight on November 20.

The fight

The HBO-televised fight took place at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States.

The fight was billed as a potential "fight of the year", however the fight ended abruptly and dramatically when Sergio Martínez delivered a knockout blow with 2:02 left in the 2nd round of the scheduled 12 round fight. The punch was a short left hook that caught Williams right on the chin, as he attempted to deliver a left-hand of his own. Williams' right hand was at his waist when the punch landed, rendering Paul Williams unconscious upon contact.

Aftermath

Martínez was later stripped by the WBC after HBO declined to broadcast a bout between him and "Interim" champion Sebastian Zbik.

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:

Televised

• Middleweight Championship: Sergio Martínez (c) vs Paul Williams

Martínez defeats Williams via KO at 1:10 of round 2.

Untelevised

• Middleweight bout: Fernando Guerrero vs Willis Lockett

Guerrero defeats Lockett via TKO at 1:06 of round 4.

• Heavyweight bout: Tony Thompson vs Paul Marinaccio

Thompson defeats Marinaccio via TKO at 2:02 of round 4.

• Welterweight bout: Willie Nelson vs. Quinton Whitaker

Nelson defeats Whitaker via TKO at 2:22 of round 1.

• Featherweight bout: Luis Orlando Del Valle vs Noe Lopez Jr.

Del Valle defeats Lopez Jr via TKO at 1:48 of round 3.

• Cruiserweight bout: Zsolt Erdei vs Samson Onyango

Erdei defeats Onyango via unanimous decision (79–73, 80–72, 80–72). This was Erdei's first fight in a year.

• Welterweight bout: Steve Upsher Chambers vs Bayan Jargal

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	HBO

External links

• http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:1541357