Finally a fight everybody wants to see. In what has been a down year for boxing, both in and out of the ring, some semblance of sanity has finally prevailed. Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams will stage their long-awaited rematch Nov. 20 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Get your popcorn ready.
The two first met in a 12-round slugfest on Dec. 5, 2009, with Williams earning a controversial majority decision. Since then Williams defeated Kermit Cintron on a four-round technical decision, while Martinez captured the WBC/WBO middleweight titles with a stunning 12-round decision over Kelly Pavlik.
Now Martinez and Williams will meet again with Martinez’s middleweight title at stake in what figures to be a bout filled with non-stop action and bad intentions.
“I know he is going to bring it and I am going to bring it,” Williams (39-1, 27 KOs) said. “For the whole 12 rounds, or four, or five or one, however long it goes, there is going to be a lot of action, and I can’t wait to get in the ring to do it again.”
Like anything in boxing these days, the match-up wasn’t easily made. Williams chased big-money welterweight bouts against Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley or Floyd Mayweather, while Martinez (45-2-2, 24 KOs) had to wait to see if Pavlik wanted to exercise a rematch clause that he eventually declined. HBO, which will televise the bout live, stood firm in its demand that Williams and Martinez eventually reach an agreement.
“This is what it’s all about, men fighting men,” said Martinez’s promoter, Lou DiBella. “If we don’t have more fights like this, then we’re headed in the wrong direction.”
The inability of Mayweather and Pacquiao to agree to a fight has put a damper on the year. If that isn’t bad enough, Mayweather has found himself facing criminal charges over a domestic incident with his ex-girlfriend, while Pacquiao is matched against the disgraced Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 in Cowboys Stadium. Meanwhile, the stench still lingers from the draw Mosley and Sergio Mora fought to last week in Los Angeles.
And let’s not forget the recent news that the two biggest promotional companies, Golden Boy and Top Rank, are suing each other again. Their latest litigation assures boxing fans they won’t be matching their best fighters against each other anytime soon.
So, if there’s a bout to save boxing, Martinez-Williams II might be it.
“This is the biggest fight out there except for Mayweather and Pacquiao, and they’re not fighting,” Williams said. “So the next biggest one is me and Martinez.”
Their bout will be fought at a 157-pound weight limit, which is fine with Martinez.
“No one wants to fight Paul Williams, and no one wants to fight ‘Maravilla’ Martinez, so we will fight each other,” Martinez said. “And everyone that doesn’t want to fight us has a good reason to not want to. There is a good reason for us to fight again; it is a fight that everyone wants to see. We will try to do again what we did before.”
Tickets — priced at $400, $200, $100 and $50 — can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at ticketmaster.com.
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DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing, returns to the BB King Blues Club in Times Square on Oct. 6, featuring undefeated prospects Gabe Bracero and Mark Tucker in separate bouts. The undercard will feature the return of heavyweight Tor Hamer, along with bouts featuring popular undefeated prospects: Sonya Lamonakis, Steven Martinez, Isiah Thomas, Stivens Bujaj and Seanie Monaghan. Tickets are on sale now through DiBella Entertainment, and start at $55. Tickets can be purchased by calling DBE at (212) 947-2577.
