Williams vs Martinez

I disagree. Williams won the first fight. Was it close? Of course. However, he still one clean imo.

He's an interesting fighter. He is always going up, then down, up, then down. Only a half dozen of pounds at a time, but he has never been able to figure out exactly where he SHOULD fight, not where he CAN fight.

If you told me to pick an ideal weight, 157 sounds great. It's the perfect weight where he still has some above average pop in his punches and a size advantage over his opponents.

Also, I feel there are two main reasons why he struggled in the first fight. Number one is that he had a history of adjusting poorly to southpaws. See the Quintana fight for an example. He just couldn't figure out the distance/angles and got hit way too often. He'll adjust and look great in doing so.

Number two is that he might not have been motivated. He was kind of cruising. He also didn't fight his fight and was suckered into a slugfest when he could have outboxed Martinez to a safe points win.

In an interview prior to the Martinez fight, here is what he had to say..

On if he sees himself becoming the next American superstar:

Paul Williams: “Most definitely. Because every time I get on (TV), I fight different. Every time I fight it’s always exciting. Even when I had that little upset and I lost, it wasn’t like he beat me real bad. Then I came back explosive, knocked my last three guys out.”

The above statement gives a little validity to the reasoning that he got suckered into a fight instead of using a gameplan. Considering his superior ability and his history of adjusting after lackluster performances, I'll take him at even money all day long in the rematch.

Exactly. I believe he had over a month in camp before Pavlik pulled out for a second time with the hand issue. Not sure about the Quintana fight (if he was a sub for Kermit or not) but that fight proves an adjustment. He gets beaten easily in 8-4 fashion then beats down Quintana like he didn't exist.

Martinez was underestimated by the Williams camp. Not so this time. I'm very confident that he'll do whatever it takes to win, even if it is boring and safe.

He had to be dragged into this rematch kicking and screaming.  That's a fact.

williams is old school all the way and I love it, martinez is a hell of a fighter, but is getting up their in age and I think that will be the difference here, williams is one year better than last fight and entering his prime years, while martinez is simply one year older and with the style he fights in thats huge, martinez is a pleasure to watch but the style in which he fights is the most energy draining in  boxing, I am a fighter so I know what I am talking about, the fight will be very close for the first 8 rounds but I see williams sweeping the last rounds to take home a un.dec., martinez never had anything handed to him in boxing, he had to do everything the hard way and I am rooting for him, but I just don't see it happening

Everything Dan Rafael's written is about Williams and his camp not wanting the fight.  Martinez agreed to the contract two weeks before Williams did.

https://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5597500

One of the reasons it took so long to finalize Martinez-Williams II was because the Williams camp was not eager for the fight. Goossen and adviser Al Haymon hoped to line up a big fight for Williams at welterweight, where he used to hold a title, against an opponent such as Manny Pacquiao or Shane Mosley.

When that did not materialize, they put off making the Martinez rematch for as long as they could until they had run out of other lucrative options.

When HBO and DiBella ran out of patience waiting for the Williams side to accept the fight in mid-August, DiBella cut off talks and offered the fight -- with HBO's blessing -- to junior middleweight contender Alfredo "Perro" Angulo, a network staple in recent years. However, when Angulo turned down $750,000, a career-high purse by more than double, plus other perks, DiBella and HBO made another run at Williams and HBO worked closely with Haymon to get it done. The Williams camp's reluctance to finalize the deal forced HBO to move the fight from the intended date of Oct. 2 to Nov. 20, leaving the network with no fights in October.

DiBella said he was ready to make a deal months ago and he's been upset that Martinez was treated as a "second-class citizen" by HBO while Williams, because of his ties to Haymon, received preferential treatment.

I agree 100 percent. Martinez took some middle rounds off in the Pavlik fight and Pavlik's feet are even slower than Williams'. Martinez' style is SOOO draining on the legs its ridiculous. I like Williams in this fight but I sure won't be betting too big.

Quote Originally Posted by sunset:

william beats him by a land slide  GL

NO Boxer today would ever beat Martinez by a landslide. Somehow this guy is still under rated. He is a very good intelligent fighter that not only does the fundamentals well, he is extremely good at adapting mid-fight. I think this is as 50/50 a fight as you can get. Very evenly matched fighters. Will the fight go the distance prop (YES). Safest best in the house...