The well anticipated rematch between Paul ‘The Punisher’ Williams and Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez was expected to produce fireworks after the first fight between the two ended in a hotly contested majority decision in the favour of Paul Williams. Many believed Sergio had in fact done enough to win the fight himself, one of the judges who scored the bout 119-110 to Williams just added further insult to injury, although the fight was a brilliant one for the neutral, a real fight of the year contender! If anybody thought Williams was going to follow the first up with another win though, they were wrongly mistaken.
The first round was a good start to the fight. Williams straight to action from the opening bell, commanding the centre of the ring with those quick, snappy jabs of his. He kept busy for the first minute or so until Sergio found his rhythm and started firing back. It was immediately clear he was trying to land the left hook, throwing it on a number of occasions, and succeeding a couple of times, a sign of things to come. Williams was the busier of the two but Martinez seemed to be landing the bigger, more meaningful shots. The two started to trade, picking up where they left off from their first encounter, the first round clearly hard to score a winner. I gave it to Williams just, due to his high punch output and for being the aggressor for the majority of the round.
The second round was even more explosive than the first. Williams came marching out of the blocks but Martinez was straight in, forcing him back with that powerful jab. A much brighter start for the Argentinian. Williams was trying to get his jab off but Sergio was first to him every time with the jab of his own. The left hook was proving very effective indeed, Sergio landing a big one around twenty seconds into the fight and an even bigger one a few seconds later. The biggest of the lot came around the one minute mark. Williams stalked Martinez to the ropes, Sergio started slowly lowering his left shoulder as he backed up. And as Williams looked ready to fire another punch, Sergio unleashed a monstrous left hook that planted Williams straight on jaw. He was out cold before he even hit the canvas. Martinez didn’t even bother waiting for a count, he knew Williams wasn’t getting up and he climbed the ropes, champion again with his crown upon his head!
The roles had been reversed and although William’s is the one they call the punisher, it was only Martinez handing out the punishment on this night.
A big congratulations to the new king of the middleweight division!
As of where I’d like to see both fighters go next, I’ve always wanted to see a Williams-Pacquiao fight. Martinez-Pacquiao would be a cracking fight but Bob Arum has already stated that Manny won’t be fighting any more bigger guys. Maybe if he can persuade Williams to come back down to 147, or do it at a catch weight of 150 then that fight can be made! Otherwise I think the best case scenario is a rubber match! The first one needs no introductions and I believe this fight was shaping up to be just as good before it’s premature end. A trilogy would be good for the sport and I think both fighters would be no less than 100% for the third.
Thanks for reading!
