By Rick Reeno
BoxingScene.com was advised that Sergio Martinez, WBC junior middleweight champion, is ready to fight Paul Williams on October 3 - if Williams' promoter, Dan Goossen, is unable to reach a deal to fight WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. Williams' side is still negotiationing with Top Rank and they hope to complete a deal. Martinez is holding back from finalizing a title defense in France. Williams holds the WBO's interim title at 154-pounds.
A Martinez camp member told BoxingScene "Sergio is ready to fight Paul Williams on October 3. We believe the deal to fight Kelly Pavlik will get done because HBO has so much money on the table [$3.75 million] but if they don't reach a deal, Sergio wants to fight Williams as long they treat it like a unification fight and don't treat Sergio like 'an opponent.'"
