CompuBox Post Analysis: Paul Williams vs Sergio Martinez
By CompuBox
When it was announced that Sergio Martinez would replace Kelly Pavlik as Paul Williams’ opposition, the boxing cognoscenti envisioned a skilled but somewhat subdued night at the fights.
So much for visions.
Two of the best 154-pounders on the planet put on one of the best middleweight fights of 2009 Saturday night in Atlantic City as they boxed and slugged with passion and pushed themselves to ever-escalating heights. While the majority decision in Williams’ favor was well received as a whole, it was marred by Pierre Benoist’s inexplicable 119-110 scorecard that saw Williams a 10-1-1 winner in rounds. Julie Lederman’s 114-114 and Lynne Carter’s 115-113 submissions were far more reflective of the action in the ring and the CompuBox statistics compiled at ringside.
Williams held numerical advantages in all three categories. He was 300 of 979 overall (31 percent) to Martinez’s 254 of 368 (40 percent) while out-jabbing the Argentine 348-192 in attempts and 94-71 in connects, though Martinez’s stick landed at a 37 percent rate to Williams’ 27. Williams also prevailed in power punches as he went 206 of 631 (33 percent) to Martinez’s 183 of 446 (41 percent).
The bout featured plenty of ebbs and flows in terms of action as well as numbers. Williams controlled much of the first round with his activity (17 of 66 to 11 of 24) but the pair stunningly exchanged knockdowns, with Martinez’s the far more resounding. The Argentine carried that momentum into rounds two, three and four as he out-landed Williams 70-48 overall and 52-37 in power connects. At times Williams looked gangly and confused in the midst of Martinez’s sharp boxing but the South Carolina native eventually steadied himself and regained his rhythm.
Williams amassed more than 30 connects in six of the final seven rounds, peaking at 35 in the 11th. Martinez reached the 30-connect plateau only once in that stretch (32 in the 11th) but did his best to remain steady under Williams’ constant fire. In fact, Martinez achieved 18 connects in rounds six, seven, eight, nine and 10. What kept Martinez in the contest was his accuracy, especially in power punches. He topped the 40 percent mark eight times and surpassed 50 percent twice (54 in round one and 51 in the round 11).
Williams’ work in the final two rounds may have pushed him over the top as he posted a 68-58 edge in total connects and 55-45 in landed power shots. Both reached their high water marks in the final round as Williams unleashed 102 punches while Martinez fired 68, but while Williams was prolific Martinez was precise as he racked up impressive power percentages of 51 and 43 to Williams’ 41 and 32 in the final two rounds.
Williams and Martinez offered sports fans a demonstration of the skill, talent, courage and determination required of elite fighters. It was a performance worthy of a second act and given the fact that they are the two most avoided fighters in the sport they may have little choice but to turn to each other once again. Now that’s a vision we all would like to see.
The co-feature saw Chris Arreola impressively return to the win column with a brutal fourth round knockout of Brian Minto, whose bravery knows few bounds. Despite weighing a career-high 263 pounds Arreola was active and accurate against Minto’s short-armed aggression as he landed 47 percent of his punches (98 of 208), 34 percent of his jabs (31 of 90) and 57 percent of his power punches (67 of 118). Those figures were inflated by Arreola’s destructive fourth round, which saw him connect on 40 of his 58 total punches (69 percent) and a face-busting 74 percent of his power shots (34 of 46).
Minto got in his share of whacks as his 63 of 172 (37 percent) total included 45 of 97 power punches (46 percent). The Butler, Pa. product was particularly successful in rounds two through four as he amassed power connect percentages of 50, 40 and 54 but Arreola’s size, strength and power were far too much for the 5-10 battler to overcome.
Two months after being stopped by WBC champion Vitali Klitschko, Arreola provided a fresh reminder of his unique charisma and raw-boned power. Will that translate to a championship someday? Probably not as long as the Klitschkos continue to rule the roost but at age 28 "The Nightmare" is still young enough to achieve his dream.