On Saturday night at Caesar’s Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KOs) scored an electrifying second round KO over Paul “The Punisher” Williams (39-2, 27 KOs).
The knockout, which is undoubtedly the frontrunner for “Knockout of the Year” came at the 1:10 mark of round two and courtesy of a Martinez straight left.
In December of 2009, Williams was awarded a majority decision victory over Martinez — a close fight in which Judge Pierre Benoist turned in an inexplicable score of 119-110 in favor of Williams.
Seeking his revenge, Martinez made it clear he did not want his fate decided by three judges again. Rather, this time “Maravilla” took matters into his own hands, catching and dropping Williams with a blistering straight left that he would never get up from.
After picking up where they left off last December, the first round featured both fighter’s sharing their own bit of success. “Maravilla” made it a point to mix in a few body punches, but both fighters were clearly willing to stand in the pocket and trade with one another like they did eleven months ago.
The second round, or round fourteen, seemed to continue the trend of vicious exchanges when suddenly Martinez caught Williams with an unforgiving left that landed flush. The 6’1” Williams fell crumbled slowly and majestically to the canvass where he would lay motionless for the better part of two minutes and not return to his feet for about five.
Upon seeing his opponent collapse before his eyes, Martinez ran with excitement onto the turnbuckles and raised his arms in front of the Boardwalk Hall crowd, not even waiting to see if Williams would beat the ten count.
With the one punch knockout, Martinez asserted himself as frontrunner for not only “Knockout of the Year,” but also “Fighter of the Year” — also sporting an impressive victory of Kelly Pavlik earlier in 2010.
Further, Martinez’s trainer, Gabriel Sarmiento, cemented his case as “Trainer of the Year,” an award in which he has already been nominated for. Only after the fight had come to a conclusion was it revealed that Sarmiento laid out a plan two days ago that had Martinez work Williams’ body in the inaugural round, before fainting — and faking a right — only to surprise Williams with a left that would knock him out in round two.
Like something out of a movie, that is exactly what happened as “Maravilla” executed his trainer’s plans to perfection, scoring an unbelievable knockout victory over Williams and asserting himself an “HBO A-side fighter” in the process.
With the win, Martinez retained his Ring Magazine middleweight title, as well as his WBC middleweight title.
Steve Upsher Chambers vs. Bayan Jargal — 8 Rounds, Welterweights
Philadelphia’s Steve Upsher Chambers (23-1-1, 6 KOs) squeaked out a split decision victory over the previously unbeaten Bayan Jargal (15-1-3, 10 KOs).
In the first two rounds, both fighter’s found their fare share of success, neither proving to be an elusive target.
In the first minute of round three, the two fighters were involved in a barbaric exchange with Upsher Chambers getting the better of Jargal. Upsher Chambers rocked Jargal multiple times in round three, but Jargal was unwilling to backdown, always having an answer for anything Upsher Chambers threw his way.
By round four, it was clear that Jargal was the effective aggressor, steadily moving forward while forcing Upsher Chambers to fight with his back against the ropes — which is where Upsher Chambers fought most of the fight.
In round six, with Upsher Chambers still against the ropes, Jargal unleashed a flurry of punches on Upsher Chambers, and tired himself in the process. Upsher Chambers came off of the ropes and landed a few punches of his own, drawing some “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd.
When the final bell sounded to conclude the eight round, the fight went to the scorecards. Judge Joe Pasquale scored the bout 77-75 in favor of Jargal. Judges John McKay and Judge Ron Mcnair saw the bout 77-75 and 78-78, respectively, for the winner, Upsher Chambers.
Zsolt Erdei vs. Samson Onyango — 8 Rounds, Light Heavyweight
In front of a couple hundred loud Hungarian fans, Hungary’s Zsolt Erdei (32-0, 17 KOs) coasted to a unimous decision victory over Kenya’s Samson Onyango (20-7, 13 KOs).
Erdei methodically controlled the pace of the first three rounds, throwing a steady streams of jabs and letting straight rights fly. Onyango found success when he went to Erdei’s body, but had trouble finding Erdei’s face.
In round four, Erdei continued pressuring his Kenyan counterpart. Left hooks began to land with more regularity, and Erdei’s best punch of the round was a straight right that stumbled Onyango.
Rounds five, six, and seven mirrored those of the earlier rounds, with Erdei using a consistent flow of left hooks and straight rights to get the better of his opponent.
Round eight opening up with an impressive five-punch combination from Erdei that seemed to surprise Onyango. With the Hungarian fans chanting “Knockout! Knockout!” Erdei gave it his best shot to stop his opponent, letting his hands fly.
Erdei was unable to get the knockout, but did score a unanimous decision victory over Onyango. Judge Ron Mcnair saw the bout in Erdei’s favor, 79-73, while judges John McKay and Joe Pasquale agreed that Erdei won the bout 80-72.
Tony Thompson vs. Paul Marinaccio — 10 Rounds, Heavyweight
In a heavyweight battle, schedule for ten rounds, Tony Thompson (35-2, 23 KOs) scored a 4th round TKO victory over Buffalo, New York’s Paul Marinaccio (24-6-3, 11 KOs).
In the first round, Thompson asserted himself as the aggressor, continually coming forward, working behind an effective jab.
In the second round, Thompson landed a crushing straight left that snapped Marinaccio’s head back and and put his back against the ropes — where he remained for the rest of the fight. Thompson continued to pour on, landing a solid right hook, followed by a straight left. Thompson found his opponent with regularity in the second round, while Marinaccio seemed reluctant to let his hands go.
In the third round, Thompson continued his effective aggression, immediately backing his opponent into a corner, where he then began to pummel Marinaccio. Thompson continued to score at will to Marinaccio’s head, but rarely did any work to his opponent’s body.
In the fourth round, Thompson conintued his dominance, pressing the action and forcing Marinaccio to fight with his back against the ropes. Marinaccio couldn’t ward off the aggressive Thompson, who ultimately pinned Marinaccio into a corner, where he landed three straight vicious right hooks to the right side of Marinaccio’s face before the referee jumped in between the two and stopped the fight. He called a halt to the bout at the 2:02 mark of the fourth round.
Fernando Guerrero vs. Saul Duran — 8 Rounds, Middleweight
Undefeated Dominican phenom Fernando Guerrero (20-0, 16 KOs) kept his record perfect with a fourth round TKO over the tough Mexican, Saul Duran (36-17-3, 29 KOs).
The first round belonged to Guerrero, who imposed his will on his Mexican counterpart. Guerrero teed off on Duran, landing straight lefts at will. The Dominican showed off an impressive arsenal in the inaugural round, landing a healthy mix of jabs, body punches, straight lefts, and uppercuts — all inflicting damage to Duran.
In the second round, Guerrero picked up right where he left off, landing bullet-like lefts through Duran’s defense. The heavy-handed Dominican continued to land at an alarming success rate and ultimately dropped Duran in the second round courtesy of a straight left.
In the third round, the resilient Duran — in classic Mexican fashion — kept coming forward and engaging Guerrero. Duran kept Guerrero on the ropes for the majority of round three, but it was Guerrero who got the best of the exchanges.
In round four, Guerrero finished off his opponent in style, landing a left-right-left combination to Duran’s unprotected face, sending him to the canvas for the second — and last time. Referee Ricardo Vera called a halt to the bout at the 1:06 mark of round four.
Luis Del Valle vs. Noe Lopez Jr. — 8 Rounds, Featherweight
In a bout scheduled for eight rounds at the featherweight division, Newburgh, New York’s Luis Del Valle (11-0, 9 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO victory over Mexico’s Noe Lopez Jr. (6-7, 4 KOs).
Del Valle asserted his will in the opening round, constantly coming forward and getting the better of his opponent. The second round featured a savage exchange between the two fighters, with Del Valle landing a huge straight right, but Lopez immediately returning the favor by delivering a vicious uppercut followed by a straight left.
At the end of the second round, just as the bell sounded, Del Valle stunned Lopez with an ill-intentioned straight right, forcing his legs to wobble until he collapsed to the canvas. The referee, however, disallowed the knockdown.
In the fourth round, after being hit with a crackling body shot, Lopez dropped to a knee. After beating the referee’s ten count, Lopez found himself on unsteady legs — and was dropped by two left hooks, one to the body, one to the head. It is at that point that the referee saw it fit to call a halt to the bout awarding Del Valle the TKO victory.
Willie Nelson vs. Quinton Whitaker — 8 Rounds, Welterweight
Cleveland, Ohio’s Willie Nelson took his talents to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he improved his already undefeated record to 16-0-1 (10 KOs) with a first round TKO over San Antonio’s Quinton Whitaker (7-9, 5 KOs).
Midway through the first round, Nelson dropped Whitaker with a devastating straight right that he never recovered from. Whitaker beat the referee’s ten count, but was greeted seconds later two blistering left hooks, one to the body and one to the head that forced Whitaker to the canvass once more. Too tough for his own good, Whitaker once again beat the ten count, but was immediately greeted by a flurry of punches courtesy of Nelson, which ultimately led to the third knockdown of the first round.
The referee called a halt to the bout at the 2:22 mark in the first round.
