By Cliff Rold

Sugar Ray Robinson-Gene Fullmer II?

Nah.

Michael Nunn-Sumbu Kalambay?

Maybe.

In the pantheon of great, one-punch Middleweight championship knockouts, time will tell where Sergio Martinez’s left hand lightning bolt against Paul Williams will land (besides the chin of Williams that is).

It is assured to land somewhere, it being the sort memorable fistic moment 2010 had lacked to now.

Amen for that.

Let’s go to the report card.

Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Martinez A; Williams A/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Power – Martinez B; Williams B/Post: A; B
Pre-Fight: Defense – Martinez B+; Williams B/Post: B+; D
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Martinez A; Williams A/Post: Same

Sometimes, fighters who went through hell the first time can get caught playing chess the second time around, precious rounds spent warming back to the task again. 

Not so much on Saturday.

Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KO) and Williams (39-2, 27 KO) picked up where they left off, both men going at each other full speed shortly into round one.  And, given who was in the ring, full speed was literal and figurative. 

Williams’s downfall, though it could not be known then, was on display right away.  He was completely disinterested in defense (a category this scribe overrated him in regarding the pre-report card anyways) and was eating clean lefts just as soon as Martinez started throwing them.  As noted heading into the fight, the Williams offense is his defense most of the time.  Against higher level foes, that approach doesn’t work as well. 

Martinez wasn’t particularly better than Williams on defense but, of the two, it is the Middleweight champion whose shots were more impactful.  What Williams returned fire with, as was the case the first time around, wasn’t hurting Martinez as bad as the reverse.

While Martinez may not be a consistent “A” for power, it’s the only grade fair for what he did.  The replays show the perfection of the left.  Martinez is turning his whole body into it, knuckles square to the chin, Williams obliging be falling right into the leather.  As Williams lay across the canvas, eyes blank, a moment was made.

That doesn’t mean either man should lose any regard in terms of intangibles.  Williams, before Saturday, had always shown good whiskers.  Any man can be caught with the right shot and the willingness, the eager engagement, of both warriors was a credit to the game once more.  A four-minute fight doesn’t have to be a bad thing.  When the level of spirit involved in Martinez-Williams II is on display, four minutes can be just fine. 

If there is to be a knock, it is in the treatment of Martinez on the periphery of the actual fighting.  He’s the champ, right?  And yet he was forced to fight at a catchweight (despite Williams winning a straight up Middleweight contest the first time) and introduced second in the ring.  That sort of disrespect, particularly the latter egregious nonsense, made Martinez’s win poetic justice.   

Martinez continues his late career surge.  In a Middleweight division short on names, can it be long before Martinez and Williams find each other left to face off one last time?

Let’s hope so.  Twice these two have combined for fights that left the boxing world buzzing.  They are tied at one apiece and Williams would not be the first man to rebound from a knockout.  Martinez wouldn’t be the first man to knock out his chief rival in a rubber match.

Williams needs to regroup.  Martinez needs a solid opponent who gives him a payday defense without the hellish demands of a Pavlik or Williams. 

Then they need to do it again.  

Report Card Picks 2010: 30-12

Ratings Impact

At Middleweight, Martinez holds the top slot while Williams slips to third behind Felix Sturm and Kelly Pavlik.  There was, on the telecast Saturday and in the aftermath of Martinez-Williams II, much discussion of where Martinez rates among the worlds best.  There is a gut reaction going on that says Martinez is just behind the two leaders of the pack (who shall remain nameless because they don’t merit mention after a weekend where two rivals actually fought each other).

Before the BoxingScene pound-for-pound list is updated, it might be worth waiting to see how at least next weekend goes.  Williams is going to exit; that much can be said with certainty.  However, is a pair of memorable encounters with Williams and a nice win over Pavlik for the title earlier this year enough to overcome the skins men like Juan Manuel Marquez and Fernando Montiel have in the game?

Those two have been doing it at the highest levels for a lot longer, against both similar and higher levels of competition.  It’s worth real thought.  At the very least, waiting to see how Marquez looks next week in defense of the Lightweight title is in order.

So that will be done.

In other divisions, Zsolt Erdei returned to Light Heavyweight with an eight-round win on the Martinez undercard.  The former lineal Light Heavyweight champion, who vacated the division but remains undefeated, is not yet returned to the ratings at 175 lbs.  It is likely but a matter of time. At Jr. Bantamweight, the ratings were not affected but for fans who missed it, find a replay of Raul Martinez-Rodrigo Guerrero.  All of this and the rest of the key weekend results are reflected in the new division ratings.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com