After waiting months for Kelly Pavlik, Paul Williams could wait no longer. Williams travels to Atlantic City, NJ this Saturday to face Sergio Martinez in a middleweight bout. The fight headlines a night of boxing on HBO that also features heavyweights Chris Arreola and Brian Minto. The coverage begins at 9:30 pm ET.
Paul Williams vs. Sergio Martinez
Money Line: Williams -350; Martinez +275
Paul Williams is a matchup nightmare that spans three weight classes. At 6’1″ he’s tall whether he’s fighting at 147 or 160. The Punisher also throws a high volume of punches. Throw in the southpaw stance and it’s no wonder Williams enters this fight with a record of 37-1 (27 KOs). Paul Williams has only fought once this year, a dominating performance over Winky Wright in April, but that was mostly due to Williams wasting time going after Kelly Pavlik. Williams usually has an enormous reach advantage in his contests and this bout will be no different as he sports a six-inch difference over Martinez.
Sergio Martinez, 44-1-2 (24 KOs), is coming off of a draw against Kermit Cintron but most onlookers believe Martinez won that fight. Prior to that draw, Martinez had rattled off 28 straight wins. Martinez is an interesting matchup for Williams because he too fights from the southpaw position. He’s a veteran with a wealth of experience. Martinez knows the tricks of the trade that someone would need in order to slow Williams down. He’ll need to do something to slow Williams down, as Martinez can’t keep up with his workrate.
Staff Predictions
Trent: If Martinez wins this fight, he’s probably going to have to do it ugly. So from a fan’s perspective, I really hope Williams wins. I expect some holding and clinching from Martinez in an attempt to neutralize Williams’ workrate. It will be unfortunate too because Martinez has the tools to outbox Williams. Paul will do enough to win but it will probably look like Martinez didn’t do enough. I don’t see a stoppage here so give it to Williams with a score of 118-110.
Corey: These are two guys HBO has been pushing hard among the next generation of superstars. But while Williams has already proved it by winning across three divisions, I can’t help but feel like Martinez is there mostly because the junior middleweight division is so lacking in talent. In his biggest fight to date, he looked good but not great against Kermit Cintron. Martinez isn’t a huge puncher at 154 pounds, and this fight is happening at middleweight. Given how the similarly slick Carlos Quintana was able to give Williams problems the first time they fought, I expect a close fight early before Williams takes over late to win a 116-112 or 117-111 decision.
