By Mark Vester
At the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Paul Williams (38-1, 27KOs) won a twelve round majority decision over WBC junior middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (44-2-2, 24KOs) in a boxing classic. The scores were 114-114 a draw, 115-113 and a very insane score of 119-110 for Williams - what fight was this judge watching. The fight was very close and there was a mountain of action. A fight of the year contender for sure. Martinez did not lose the title as the fight was fought at the middleweight limit.
Williams came out guns blazing in the first round, taking the fight to Martinez and throwing a lot of punches. He started putting a lot of pressure on Martinez. Martinez came in with a good counter-right hand to clock Williams. A few seconds later Williams scored a flash knockdown on Martinez who was off-balance at the time. Then Martinez landed a big left hand on Williams' head. At the end of the round, a counter hook from Martinez sent Williams down for what may have been the first knockdown of Williams' career.
Williams came back out in the second in the same fashion, taking the fight to Martinez. He was once again getting rocked with counter hooks from Martinez. A hard left hand buckled Williams as he walked in. Martinez began to target the body. Martinez would land a good combination when they were trading on the inside and continue to outwork Williams.
They were trading heavy shots at the start of the third. Martinez was countering well. They traded heavy right hooks at close range. Williams continued to move forward. They began to trade more punches but Martinez was quicker and landing more right hands to continue outworking Williams. During the fourth round, Martinez started off with a heavy combination and a right hand. Williams came back with his own hard right hand and Martinez was stunned. Martinez would later come back with another hard combination. The started trading big punches at close range. Williams would land a big right hand to push Martinez back. Williams would then land a hard left hand to stun Martinez. A cut opened up around Williams' left eye.
Williams started firing big shots at the start of the fifth and knocking Martinez around, who held on. Both of them started jabbing. It didn't take long for the two of them to start trading some bombs at close range until the bell. Both fighters had their moments. Williams started to work his jab to get inside. Martinez countered well but Williams began to land more often and his shots appeared to be harder. Williams landed a good left hand and Martinez came back with his own left and then a right hook. Williams would land a good combo on the inside.
Williams was jabbing well in the seventh round. He started landing a lot of punches but Martinez always fired back with good counters. Martinez appeared to be slowing down and Williams was coming on. Martinez landed a good right hook at the end of the round. At the start of the eight, Martinez came out with a combination. Martinez started jabbing to Williams' body. Williams was still landing a good jab to set up some good shots. Blood started flowing from Williams' mouth. Martinez continued to target Williams' body and landed a huge right hand to stun Williams at the end. Williams came out jabbing in the ninth. They started trading good body shots on the inside. Williams with a good right hand. Williams started jabbing Martinez back and landing long straight punches.
Martinez landed a huge left at the start of the tenth and landed another to stun Williams. Williams started jabbing Martinez back. Martinez was digging to the body and landed another left hand. Martinez landed a big left as Williams came in jabbing. Williams countered with some shots and Martinez countered back with his own punches. They were trading on the inside at the start of the eleventh, and were quickly back to trading big shots at close range. Martinez with a big left hand and an uppercut on the inside. They were trading bombs when Williams tried to press the action. Williams' eye was bleeding bad. Martinez landed a big right at the end of the round.
They started throwing at the start of the twelfth. Martinez with a hard left. They continued trading on the inside. Martinez landed a heavy left as Williams came in but Williams kept on coming. Right hand laned by Martinez and Williams landed an uppercut. They started trading body shots and then started trading head shots as the entire crowd and the HBO crew stood on their feet until the final bell.
