Tweet
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion Sergio Martinez of Madrid, Spain, will enter the ring against Paul Williams on Saturday night with a confidence that is born perhaps out of his 29-fight unbeaten streak.
A 34-year-old who was born in Argentina, Martinez (44-1) vows that he will make Williams (37-1, 27 knockouts) his 25th KO victim in a non-title, middleweight (160) clash of southpaws before what is expected to be a sold out crowd at The Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall.
A two-time welterweight and one-time junior middleweight titlist, Williams, 28, never has been stopped. In addition, even though his lone defeat was by a decision against southpaw Carlos Quintana, Williams stopped Quintana in the first round of their rematch.
But none of that matters to Martinez, who is 28-0-1 with 18 knockouts since February 2000, when he was knocked out in seven rounds by Antonio Margarito, whom Williams decisioned unanimously in July 2007.
"I have matured a lot since my fight with Margarito. It has been almost 10 years," said Martinez, whose only other blemish came in a February draw with Kermit Cintron in his last fight. "I have changed a lot -- mainly because of my fight against Kermit Cintron, which made me a lot tougher and a lot more confident."
See what else Martinez had to say in this FanHouse Q&A:
FanHouse: Why did you choose to fight Paul Williams when not many other fighters are willing to fight him?
Sergio Martinez: First of all, I ain't afraid of him. Second of all, I'm very confident in myself and my skills, and I've got what it takes to beat him.
FH: What will this do for your career?
Martinez: This is a very important fight, and I feel very confident I can win the fight. Even though it's not a title fight, that's not important. The outcome of this fight has implications for pound-for-pound status, and that's more important to me.
A belt is a belt. The fighter that you're in with is more important.
FH: Do you feel as if you've been overlooked?
Martinez: I don't know why I'm not considered to be at the level of other fighters or why people won't fight me. Maybe it's because I'm a lefty, and that I move differently and that I'm difficult because I'm crafty. I'm not sure.
This is something that you will see on Saturday night maybe, why people haven't fought me yet. After this fight, I believe that I'll get to the level where people will fight me, and then I'll be able to fight the best.
FH: So do you have an affinity with Paul Williams, who says that people won't fight him for many of the same reasons you listed?
Martinez: It's like a dog biting his own tale. The fighters out there, they know that I'm a difficult challenge, just like Paul is a difficult challenge.
So, yes, that's the case. I'm fighting him for myself, because I feel that I can beat Paul Williams. I'm fighting him to be immortal. I'm fighting him because I want to be the best, and Paul Williams is one of the best.
FH: How do you see this fight going?
Martinez: I think that it's going to be a very intense fight. It's going to be a very exciting fight. I'm very excited to have this opportunity and I'm going to take advantage of it.
It's going to be a war, all 12 rounds, or to the point where I knock him out, but I'm feeling a knockout.
FH: Do you feel that there is going to be any strategical changes involved, being that you're both southpaws?
Martinez: We're both champions. There's not going to be too much changes in the styles that we fight. Our blueprints are very solid. I know that he throws a lot of punches, and I'll be able to stop his attack and make him miss and make him pay for it.
FH: Were you able to emulate Paul Williams' style in sparring?
Martinez: We did have tall fighters, both southpaws. One was Russel Jordan (15-6, 10 KOs) and the other was Alex Perez (10-0, six KOs). We had all tall guys who were trying to mimic as best that we could Paul's style of fighting.
With the sparring, it was great. They helped me to get into the inside and break distance. It was phenomenal and I was able to work on the stuff that I needed to work on for this Saturday.
FH: How different are you from the fighter who was knocked out by Antonio Margarito?
Martinez: My record speaks for itself, and it will be even moreso after I beat Paul Williams. That loss made me a better fighter. I've evolved.
FH: How do you expect Paul Williams to fight on Saturday?
Martinez: I expect him to attack, and I'll weather the storm. When it's my turn to attack him, I'm going to break him down, piece by piece. I won't elaborate more than that, you'll see.
FH: Will you be willing to take shots to give shots?
Martinez: I'll break him down, and don't be surprised. I will be the one who will knock him out. I'm going to hit him with a shot and I will knock him out.
It's going to happen. I don't want the public or the press to say that Paul Williams had an off-night. Paul Williams is prepared, I'm prepared, and I'm going to do my best to beat this guy impressively.
And like I said before, when the time comes, I will knock out Paul Williams.
A 34-year-old who was born in Argentina, Martinez (44-1) vows that he will make Williams (37-1, 27 knockouts) his 25th KO victim in a non-title, middleweight (160) clash of southpaws before what is expected to be a sold out crowd at The Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall.
A two-time welterweight and one-time junior middleweight titlist, Williams, 28, never has been stopped. In addition, even though his lone defeat was by a decision against southpaw Carlos Quintana, Williams stopped Quintana in the first round of their rematch.
But none of that matters to Martinez, who is 28-0-1 with 18 knockouts since February 2000, when he was knocked out in seven rounds by Antonio Margarito, whom Williams decisioned unanimously in July 2007.
"I have matured a lot since my fight with Margarito. It has been almost 10 years," said Martinez, whose only other blemish came in a February draw with Kermit Cintron in his last fight. "I have changed a lot -- mainly because of my fight against Kermit Cintron, which made me a lot tougher and a lot more confident."
See what else Martinez had to say in this FanHouse Q&A:
FanHouse: Why did you choose to fight Paul Williams when not many other fighters are willing to fight him?
Sergio Martinez: First of all, I ain't afraid of him. Second of all, I'm very confident in myself and my skills, and I've got what it takes to beat him.
FH: What will this do for your career?
Martinez: This is a very important fight, and I feel very confident I can win the fight. Even though it's not a title fight, that's not important. The outcome of this fight has implications for pound-for-pound status, and that's more important to me.
A belt is a belt. The fighter that you're in with is more important.
FH: Do you feel as if you've been overlooked?
Martinez: I don't know why I'm not considered to be at the level of other fighters or why people won't fight me. Maybe it's because I'm a lefty, and that I move differently and that I'm difficult because I'm crafty. I'm not sure.
This is something that you will see on Saturday night maybe, why people haven't fought me yet. After this fight, I believe that I'll get to the level where people will fight me, and then I'll be able to fight the best.
FH: So do you have an affinity with Paul Williams, who says that people won't fight him for many of the same reasons you listed?
Martinez: It's like a dog biting his own tale. The fighters out there, they know that I'm a difficult challenge, just like Paul is a difficult challenge.
So, yes, that's the case. I'm fighting him for myself, because I feel that I can beat Paul Williams. I'm fighting him to be immortal. I'm fighting him because I want to be the best, and Paul Williams is one of the best.
FH: How do you see this fight going?
Martinez: I think that it's going to be a very intense fight. It's going to be a very exciting fight. I'm very excited to have this opportunity and I'm going to take advantage of it.
It's going to be a war, all 12 rounds, or to the point where I knock him out, but I'm feeling a knockout.
FH: Do you feel that there is going to be any strategical changes involved, being that you're both southpaws?
Martinez: We're both champions. There's not going to be too much changes in the styles that we fight. Our blueprints are very solid. I know that he throws a lot of punches, and I'll be able to stop his attack and make him miss and make him pay for it.
FH: Were you able to emulate Paul Williams' style in sparring?
Martinez: We did have tall fighters, both southpaws. One was Russel Jordan (15-6, 10 KOs) and the other was Alex Perez (10-0, six KOs). We had all tall guys who were trying to mimic as best that we could Paul's style of fighting.
With the sparring, it was great. They helped me to get into the inside and break distance. It was phenomenal and I was able to work on the stuff that I needed to work on for this Saturday.
FH: How different are you from the fighter who was knocked out by Antonio Margarito?
Martinez: My record speaks for itself, and it will be even moreso after I beat Paul Williams. That loss made me a better fighter. I've evolved.
FH: How do you expect Paul Williams to fight on Saturday?
Martinez: I expect him to attack, and I'll weather the storm. When it's my turn to attack him, I'm going to break him down, piece by piece. I won't elaborate more than that, you'll see.
FH: Will you be willing to take shots to give shots?
Martinez: I'll break him down, and don't be surprised. I will be the one who will knock him out. I'm going to hit him with a shot and I will knock him out.
It's going to happen. I don't want the public or the press to say that Paul Williams had an off-night. Paul Williams is prepared, I'm prepared, and I'm going to do my best to beat this guy impressively.
And like I said before, when the time comes, I will knock out Paul Williams.
Comment