By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com was advised that a deal has been reached for Sergio Martinez (45-2, 24KOs) to defend his WBC middleweight title against Paul Williams (39-1, 27KOs) on November 20 in Atlantic City. Last December they exchanged first round knockdowns in a twelve round "fight of the year" thriller. Williams got the win by way of majority decision. HBO will televise the rematch.

I've been told the two sides have a deal in principle. The contracts have yet to be signed, but there are no outstanding issues and practically everything has been agreed upon. The two sides have agreed to schedule a New York City press conference on September 23 to officially announce the rematch.