WBC middleweight title fight (12 rounds)
Paul Williams (156 pounds) vs. Sergio Martinez (1571/2 pounds)
Round 1
Here we go, Williams is obviously the significantly bigger man and the key to the fight will be whether he fights tall and long or if Martinez can goad him into another war. They start out furiously, Williams throwing the jab but Martinez is able to move inside with ease. Martinez is twice penalized for laying in with body shots while holding. The referee seems very keen to separate. Both throw wild punches that miss and then they exchange big shots off the ropes. Martinez lands some big body hooks. Williams again coming to land some shots to the body. Really good first round, very even with both guys fighting at a fast pace and looking very aggressive. Difficult one to separate but Martinez probably landed the better punches in that round. 10-9 to Martinez.
Round 2
This is great action with Williams eschewing all advantage that should come from his reach to trade inside with Martinez. They fight inside the clinch at the start of the round, with both landing punches to the body. They separate and Williams lands several right hands. Martinez moves back and Williams follows with a pawing jab. Williams opens up to throw a big hook but Martinez beats him with a beautiful overhand left. Williams is down like he's been shot and there's no question of him even trying to beat the count. It may not have been the Fight of the Year, but Martinez may have just landed the knockout of the year at 1 minute 10 seconds of the second round.
Fantastic, shockingly early finish to an emphatic sequel to the first fight. The mistakes that Williams got away in the first fight came back to haunt him in the second with the taller, longer man strangely willing to fight inside against the shorter man. He paid for it in a big way tonight, standing in front of Martinez just long enough to be hit with a thunderbolt of a punch. They interview Martinez afterwards and he confirms that he would be willing to fight either Mayweather or Pacquiao at 156Ibs.
Sergio Martinez defeated Paul Williams at 1 minute 10 seconds in the second round via knockout
