ATLANTIC CITY — No longer can Paul Williams call himself the sport's most avoided fighter.
Sergio Martinez met him head-on Saturday night at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.
"They called him the most feared man in the world, but I didn't have any fear at all in this bout," said Martinez, who overcame a first-round knockdown to drop Williams at the first-round bell en route to losing a disputed majority decision in a non-title middleweight bout in front of 2,927.
In a Fight of the Year candidate that was as brutal as it was entertaining, judge Julie Lederman scored it even at 114 and Lynn Carter had it 115-113 for Williams. Pierre Benoist, however, saw it 119-110 for Williams. He gave Martinez, who holds a major belt at junior middleweight (154), the first two rounds but gave the next 10 to Williams.
Williams threw 340 more total punches, according to CompuBox estimates, but landed 31% to the Argentine's 40%.
There were furious exchanges throughout, most notably in the second, third and fifth rounds in which Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KOs) rocked Williams (38-1, 27 KOs) by walking him into lead right hooks.
Undeterred, the 6-1 Williams, who was at welterweight two years ago but moved up in to 160 pounds in search of a challenge, found one. Martinez replaced Williams' initial opponent, middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, who withdrew citing a hand injury.
"I don't look for an easy fight. I look for hard fights," said Williams, who has an 82-inch reach. "I knew this was going to be a tough fight. The preparation was difficult because we moved to a left-hander from a right-hander just a few weeks ago."
Williams kept the pressure against his fellow southpaw, walking him down and initiating most of the exchanges.
Martinez wasn't as effective with the right hook in the later rounds because he began to telegraph them. He started leading with left hands instead which found their mark as there was two-way action until the final bell.
Carter and Lederman gave three of the last four rounds to Martinez to close the gaps on their cards.
"Losing by one point I can live with, but 119-110 I want to hit the (expletive) guy," said Lou DiBella of DiBella Entertainment, Martinez's promoter. "What a fight. It was a classic. It was Gatti-Ward at a higher skill level.
"(Sergio) is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world."
Explosive Arreola: In an exciting heavyweight matchup, Chris Arreola (28-1, 25 KOs) rebounded from the first loss of his career by scoring a fourth-round KO of Brian Minto (34-3, 21 KOs).
Arreola, who was topped in the 10th round by Vitali Klitschko in September, weighed in at 263, 12 pounds heavier than he was for Klitschko. But that didn't seem to matter as he connected on 57% of his power punches, according to CompuBox estimates.
"I hear people make fun of me behind my back," Arreola said of his weight, "but I come in here to fight. The problem is when I train, I get hungry."
While Minto boxed well and controlled most of the action for the first two rounds, scoring looping right hands and left hooks to the body at will, Arreola's power advantage was evident. Except for a trickle of blood from the bridge of his nose, Arreola was unfazed even though he was an easy target.
Minto was moved by Arreola's jabs, and a right hand caused Minto's right eye to become red and swell in the second. By the end of the round, a massive knot formed under Minto's left eye.
A right hand buckled Minto in the fourth, and a second right hand put him down for the first time. Minto wouldn't go quietly, however, as he fought back and exchanged powershots bravely to his detriment. A left hook-right hand combination staggered Minto again as he folded over into the ropes for cover.
Referee Eddie Cotton didn't intervene until Arreola — who scored more than half of his 67 power-punch connects in the fourth — was able to get in two more punches to put Minto on the canvas cleanly. Cotton finally stopped the contest while administering the count.
"Regardless of my previous loss, I'm still a top contender in the world," Arreola said. "Besides, who's better than Vitali? Nobody?"
Although Vitali owns a major belt, as does younger brother Wladimir, Wladimir is recognized as the heavyweight champion by lineage.
On the rebound: Carlos Quintana (27-2, 21 KOs), who handed Williams his only loss almost two years ago, scored a third-round stoppage of against Jesse Feliciano (15-8-3, 9 KOs) in a welterweight bout. Quintana, who was knocked out in one by Williams in a rematch four months later, opened a cut over his right eye with a left hand. Quintana dominated most of the way and had him reeling in the second round but was caught by a left hook that put him down. It was only Quintana's second bout since his loss to Williams.
Source: usatoday.com
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