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Wow... The first REALLY good, anticipated fight of the year ends in a 2nd round knockout. I will be honest and say that I believed that Williams was going to win this fight, but I was really pulling for Sergio. I like him as a fighter as I find him more entertaining to watch, and that's what I care about - being entertained. He's slick, hit's hard, fights LIVE opponents and ALWAYS COMES TO FIGHT. The same can be said about Paul Williams. He has fought all the best that boxing has to offer throughout different weight classes and has proven to be dominant and one of boxings elite. That's what made this matchup so great - 2 boxers in the primes of their career fighting the toughest fight for one another.
Max Kellerman is annoying, and I am convinced that his purpose as an HBO analyst is to hype Pacquiao up to the fullest extent. Listening to him nuthug before this fight almost made me change the channel - it get's old. "Thank the boxing God's for Manny Pacquiao" he says. I disagree, as he or another analyst said (I don't remember which) "Manny's promoter, Top Rank, has done a great job with careful matchup's. He's been able to float through the weight divisions with careful matchmaking."
In other words "His promoter is putting him in the ring with people he will dominate, we know he will dominate, and what we will see on the TV is Manny hitting a guy who can't compete over 12 rounds until he win's his unanimous decision."
How is that a breath of fresh air for boxing? Sergio/Paul was a breath of fresh air!
As short as it was, we got exactly what we love about boxing. A bout which was difficult to determine an underdog - both men prime - both men hungry wanting to win - a rematch of a fight that could have gone either way the last time around. This had "Fight of the year in the making" and instead turned out to be "The Knockout of the year."
Paul looked great physically. He was moving well throughout the first round, doing a good job of keeping Sergio at a distance with his jab, but was having a hard time landing a clean straight punch.
Sergio did an incredible job of fighting Paul Williams the way you have to fight him. He used Paul's height advantage and turned it into a disadvantage. He rocked Paul in the first round, and I think that's when the fight turned in his favor. He hurt Paul and had him shook - it was only a matter of time.
In my opinion, when a fighter get's shook and wobbled he has two choices - you can either be more aggressive, or you can be more cautious.
I believe Paul should have chosen to be more cautious. Try to slow the pace of the fight and fight "his fight."
Unfortunately for him, he chose to be more aggressive.
Two things - Sergio made himself a very hard target to hit on the chin by getting low (reminded me of The Great Rocky Marciano), and it lured Paul inside, and created an opening to land that devastating left hand RIGHT ON THE CHIN.
Williams was textbook "Knocked out cold."
Sergio figured out the "blueprint" to Paul Williams. He fought him exactly the way you need to fight him to win.
Another analyst made a comment "This is the fight many boxing fans are anticipating."
It's unbelievable that these two warriors are relatively unknown in the mainstream boxing scene.
This fight did not disappoint and is what we need in boxing. Competitive fights that end in a spectacular KO.
SERGIO IS THE REAL DEAL and I couldn't be happier. He deserves a megafight, and I've said it a million times on this forum in the past, and I believe even stronger in it now - Martinez can knock out Manny Pacquiao at Jr Middleweight.
Anyway - I'm not too sure I'd like to see a rematch just yet. Williams has a long neck, which George Chuvalo has been quoted to say "Guys with a roll of dimes for a neck will get knocked out easier. One thing that gave me such a great chin was having a short neck."
Now I'm not totally convinced that he has no chin anymore, but a fighter with a "Solid chin" doesn't typically go down from one punch on the chin.
Paul needs to fight a solid contender so we can see how he looks in the fight. If he looks good, I'd like to see a rematch. If he turns out to have a shattered chin, then that's all she wrote.
Great night for us boxing fans, I enjoyed this more than anything I've seen in the last year from Mayweather or Pacquiao.
Max Kellerman is annoying, and I am convinced that his purpose as an HBO analyst is to hype Pacquiao up to the fullest extent. Listening to him nuthug before this fight almost made me change the channel - it get's old. "Thank the boxing God's for Manny Pacquiao" he says. I disagree, as he or another analyst said (I don't remember which) "Manny's promoter, Top Rank, has done a great job with careful matchup's. He's been able to float through the weight divisions with careful matchmaking."
In other words "His promoter is putting him in the ring with people he will dominate, we know he will dominate, and what we will see on the TV is Manny hitting a guy who can't compete over 12 rounds until he win's his unanimous decision."
How is that a breath of fresh air for boxing? Sergio/Paul was a breath of fresh air!
As short as it was, we got exactly what we love about boxing. A bout which was difficult to determine an underdog - both men prime - both men hungry wanting to win - a rematch of a fight that could have gone either way the last time around. This had "Fight of the year in the making" and instead turned out to be "The Knockout of the year."
Paul looked great physically. He was moving well throughout the first round, doing a good job of keeping Sergio at a distance with his jab, but was having a hard time landing a clean straight punch.
Sergio did an incredible job of fighting Paul Williams the way you have to fight him. He used Paul's height advantage and turned it into a disadvantage. He rocked Paul in the first round, and I think that's when the fight turned in his favor. He hurt Paul and had him shook - it was only a matter of time.
In my opinion, when a fighter get's shook and wobbled he has two choices - you can either be more aggressive, or you can be more cautious.
I believe Paul should have chosen to be more cautious. Try to slow the pace of the fight and fight "his fight."
Unfortunately for him, he chose to be more aggressive.
Two things - Sergio made himself a very hard target to hit on the chin by getting low (reminded me of The Great Rocky Marciano), and it lured Paul inside, and created an opening to land that devastating left hand RIGHT ON THE CHIN.
Williams was textbook "Knocked out cold."
Sergio figured out the "blueprint" to Paul Williams. He fought him exactly the way you need to fight him to win.
Another analyst made a comment "This is the fight many boxing fans are anticipating."
It's unbelievable that these two warriors are relatively unknown in the mainstream boxing scene.
This fight did not disappoint and is what we need in boxing. Competitive fights that end in a spectacular KO.
SERGIO IS THE REAL DEAL and I couldn't be happier. He deserves a megafight, and I've said it a million times on this forum in the past, and I believe even stronger in it now - Martinez can knock out Manny Pacquiao at Jr Middleweight.
Anyway - I'm not too sure I'd like to see a rematch just yet. Williams has a long neck, which George Chuvalo has been quoted to say "Guys with a roll of dimes for a neck will get knocked out easier. One thing that gave me such a great chin was having a short neck."
Now I'm not totally convinced that he has no chin anymore, but a fighter with a "Solid chin" doesn't typically go down from one punch on the chin.
Paul needs to fight a solid contender so we can see how he looks in the fight. If he looks good, I'd like to see a rematch. If he turns out to have a shattered chin, then that's all she wrote.
Great night for us boxing fans, I enjoyed this more than anything I've seen in the last year from Mayweather or Pacquiao.
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