In a small ballroom just a few steps off the boardwalk, Argentina’s Sergio Martinez and the US’ Paul Williams stepped into the ring and waged one of the most sensational fights of last year, trading knockdowns in the first round and punches the rest of the way.
Only problem is hardly anybody saw it.
That certainly won’t be the case on Nov. 20, when Martinez defends his new middleweight title in a rematch at Atlantic City’s historic Boardwalk Hall.
Their first fight last December was in the building’s smaller ballroom — Martinez was still relatively unknown and Williams an unproven ticketseller — but this time they’re moving into the main arena. That’s the result of Martinez unseating the reigning 72.6kg champion and Williams burnishing his reputation as one of the sport’s most feared fighters.
‘APPRECIATIVE’
“I’m very appreciative that Paul Williams took the fight. I always knew it would happen,” said Martinez, who lost their first encounter only to win a clear points decision over Kelly Pavlik four months later at Boardwalk Hall to capture the title.
“This is a fight everyone would like to see again,” Martinez said.
It wasn’t easy to make, though. Few fights are these days.
Williams was looking for a big-money showdown at welterweight, with someone like Manny Pacquiao or Shane Mosley, but that fell through. He still doesn’t have the following that lends itself to making fights with the sport’s highest echelon, at least not yet.
So attention turned back to Martinez, the charismatic champion with the movie-star looks who’s become a hero in his native Argentina, but hasn’t broken through with the US public.
‘NEW FACE’
“Maybe I’ll get to that point, to be the new face of boxing because I take it very seriously, inside and outside the ring,” Martinez said.
“Boxing needs a fight like this, needs a guy like this, like Paul Williams — a guy to step up and say: ‘I’ll fight anybody,’” said Martinez’s promoter, Lou DiBella. “The sport is fading, man. I wake up and wonder if I’ll be doing this in five years.”
That’s why DiBella is hopeful that casual fans will give Williams and Martinez a chance, in person or by tuning into HBO, even if they might not recognize their names.
Their come-straight-forward, all-action styles are representative of the last truly golden era of boxing, when Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran waged nine epic fights among themselves during the 1980s. They filled arenas, made headlines, became household names and captured the public’s imagination.
“We had a sport then,” DiBella said. “This is what that harkens back to, when a man fights a man. If we don’t get back to that, we’re heading into a toilet bowl real quick.”
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