Williams weighed in at 157 lb; Martinez, a late substitute for oft-injured middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, came in at a career high 159 for the middleweight non-title fight.

Though there’s only less than a month remaining in 2009, it’s never too late to submit entries for year-end categories. Mark down the opening frame as a contender for Round of the Year to add to its potential Fight of the Year credentials.

Martinez landed the first significant punch of the fight, a straight left less than a minute in. Williams wasted little time in responding, catching his fellow southpaw with a left hand behind the ear to score a flash knockdown. Martinez was up on his feet early in the count, offering a wink and a smile towards ringside to let his people know he was fine.

He would proceed to prove it as the round went on, beating Williams to the punch and landing two more clean left hand power shots. The latter of the two sent William staggering to the canvas just at the bell, evening the score on that front and turning a 10-8 deficit all the way into a one-point advantage.

Any necessary proof of who got the better of the other in the first round was provided throughout the second. Martinez fought with the calmness of an assassin, while Williams seemed unsure of how to regain control.

Despite boasting a considerable height and reach advantage, Williams was constantly short and sloppy with the incoming, leaving himself wide open for counters. Martinez set the tone early in the round with a counter right hook that rung Williams’ bell, and continued to score with his left.

Williams gave a better account of himself in the third, which is only to say he occasionally had a response for the incoming. Martinez was dialed in with his power shots, as he seemingly couldn’t miss with his counter right hook. Williams managed a right hook of his own midway through the round in hopes of backing up the transplanted Argentinean, but to no avail.

Genuine concern surfaced in Williams’ corner in between rounds, urging their charge to find a way to turn things around. Williams came out throwing in the fourth, landing straight rights and lefts upstairs early in the round. Martinez weathered the storm and came back with right hooks, but was forced to clinch after Williams connected with a right hook of his own, and again after connecting with a left hand upstairs just before the bell.

It was by far Williams’ best round of the fight to that point, though he was now forced to contend with a cut on his left eyelid caused by a headbutt earlier in the round. Rather than panic, he fought with a sense of urgency in the fifth, immediately taking the fight to Martinez before spending the rest of the round trading – and often winning.

A brilliant exchange took place midway through the round. Martinez connected with a straight left that snapped back Williams’ head, only to get caught moments later with a right hook and two straight lefts. A late round takedown by Martinez gave both fighters a much needed breather, though not what Williams was looking for after having regained momentum.

After five furiously fought rounds, things slowed down a notch in the middle rounds. Fatigue appeared to be setting in for Martinez, who unloaded all but the kitchen sink in the earlier rounds but suddenly struggled to keep up with Williams’ workrate. Both fighters worked behind their jab, which worked greatly to Williams’ advantage as he was able to limit Martinez’ power punches to a minimum.

Action picked up late in the eighth round, as Martinez was able to regain control of the fight thanks to a right hook that rocked Williams. It didn’t last very long, as Williams obeyed head trainer George Peterson’s advice to work the body and pump his jab. Williams did just that in the ninth, also scoring with his straight left upstairs.

Consecutive straight lefts early in the tenth temporarily gave Martinez the upper hand, though he was unable to follow up. It was still enough to bank the round, as Williams tried to come back but was lazy with his jab and falling short with the left.

Though no title was at stake, the championship rounds proved to be the most crucial of what appeared to be a dead even fight to that point. Chants of “Paul” filled the ballroom, as the crowd tried to will the American to victory. Martinez appeared to be ready to fade away, but caught a second wind in a big way, unloading at center ring in what was a furiously paced final minute of the 11th round.

Wanting to leave nothing to chance, Martinez came out throwing in the 12th and final round, catching Williams flush with a left hand upstairs. Williams weathered the shot and returned to his superior workrate, though not landing anything of particular substance. Both fighters battled through exhaustion to unload in the waning seconds of the fight, which ended to a rousing applause from the ballroom crowd.

The initial announcement of a majority decision suggested the judges recognized the close nature of a terrific action fight.

It turned out only two of them – Julie Lederman (114-114) and Lynne Carter (115-113, Williams) – saw it that way.

Judge Pierre Benoist apparently went on auto-pilot very early in the fight, turning in one of the worst scorecards of the year, with his disgraceful tally of 119-110 giving Williams the win.

To his credit, even Williams believed a late surge was required in order to pull out the fight.

“My fans were telling me, if you want it you have to go and get it,” acknowledged Williams, who advances to 38-1 (27KO) with the win, his fifth straight.” I couldn’t get in the body work like I want to, but did what I had to do to keep going.”

What he did was every bit required in order to fend off the late substitute, who rose to the challenge early and often in the fight, even if coming up just short on reasonable scorecards.

“It was a great opportunity to have the most feared fighter in front of me, but I had no fear in this fight,” said Martinez, who suffers his first loss in nearly ten years, as he falls to 44-2-2 (24KO).

It’s been a rough year for the Argentinean who now makes his home in Spain. His last fight came ten months ago, when he was forced to settle for a draw against Kermit Cintron in a fight where he scored a ten-count and also appeared to easily win the majority of the rounds.

Accepting a late assignment against Williams earned him respect throughout the boxing world, particularly in comparison to Pavlik, who postponed and then subsequently pulled out of what was supposed to be a lineal middleweight title defense against the American southpaw.

Where Martinez once again failed to earn his just due was on the scorecards, especially that of Benoist. Ever the sportsman, Martinez simply stated his opinion and hopes everyone simply believes what they saw rather than what they were told.

“I prefer that (the media) call it and tell the truth, but I thought it was wrong.”

Even with the way-off tally of Pierre Benoist, it can still easily be argued that the right guy won in the end. As tough as it was, Williams wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I wanted to make it a war, and make him try to fight me. He stunned me like I stunned him. It’s part of my business getting knocked down. Just like when I’ve been down before in the gym, I had to get up and show him what a true champion is made of and put it on him.

“It let me know that I was in there with a true champion. He’s a warrior, but I liked that.”

You’d be hard pressed to find a boxing fan who didn’t like it. Or one who wouldn’t want to see it again – perhaps next time in something closer to their natural weight class, in a fight to arguably determine junior middleweight supremacy.

Williams is fully prepared to once again go back to the well if it means pleasing the people.

“If Mr. Peterson, Al (Haymon), Dan (Goossen) and HBO want to see it again, I’m all in for it.”

TELEVISED CO-FEATURE

Chris Arreola returned to the ring just nine weeks following the lone loss of his young career, outslugging determined but overmatched Brian Minto en route to a fourth-round knockout in the televised co-feature.

The physical appearance of both heavyweights was immediately off putting to the live and televised viewers, but both atoned for their soft physiques with plenty of two way action. Minto was ultimately overpowered, but gave as good of an account of himself as could have possibly been expected.

In the end, it simply wasn’t enough. Arreola took his licks and kept coming, ending the firefight with a barrage of power punches in the fourth. A right hand by the hulking Mexican landed flush on Minto’s already badly swollen left eye, sending him face first to the canvas.

Minto beat the count and once again bravely engaged for as long as his legs would keep him upright. A final flurry by Arreola put an end to that, unloading with a barrage of head shots to score the second knockdown of the fight. Minto once again attempted to beat the count and fight on, but was in no condition to continue as the bout was wisely waved off.

The official time was 2:40 of round four.

Arreola advances to 28-1 (25KO) with the victory, returning to the win column after absorbing a one-sided shellacking at the hands of Vitali Klitschko earlier this fall in a failed bid to become the first ever Mexican-American to lay claim to heavyweight hardware.

Minto falls to 34-3 (21KO) with the loss. Gone is a seven-fight win streak as he is stopped for the first time in his career.

Both televised bouts were promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .