Williams Edges Martinez in Classic!
Wage War in Thriller!

December 5, 2009 - Atlantic City, NJ

Ringside Report: Rick Scharmberg and Kurt Wolfheimer
Photos: Ed Mulholland/FightWireImages.com

TO PURCHASE PHOTOS CLICK BELOW

Two-division champ Paul "The Punisher" Williams (38-1, 27 KOs), of Augusta, GA and reigning WBC Interim junior middleweight champion Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KOs), of Argentina and now Oxnard, CA met in a twelve round non-title bout Saturday night at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom inside Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. When the dust cleared in the thrilling battle, it was Williams taking the majority decision. In the co-feature, larger-than-life heavyweight Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola (28-1, 25 KOs), of Riverside, CA stopped gutsy Brian "The Beast" Minto (34-3, 21 KOs), of Butler, PA at 2:40 of the fourth round of a scheduled ten round heavyweight bout. The promoter of the exciting six-bout card was Goossen Tutor Boxing, with HBO televising.

When Kelly Pavlik dropped out of the match with Paul Williams with a hand injury and Sergio Martinez stepped in, many boxing fans felt let down. Instead, the 2,927 who braved the chill and rain were witness to a classic.

There was electricity in the air, and fireworks right away from the two southpaw champions. Williams came out with intensity against his pure counterpunching adversary, dropping him in the first minute with a chopping left. Martinez bounced right up and then landed a counter left hook that came out of nowhere. The shot stunned Williams, and forced him to hold. Paul got right back in it with straight lefts and left uppercuts, before Martinez dropped him hard with another right hook as the bell sounded to end this "round of the year" candidate. Williams was woozy as he made his way back to his stool.

Martinez established a heavy jab in round two, which he would use effectively to the head and body. Williams was more cautious in this round, perhaps still feeling the effects of the late knockdown in the previous round. Martinez was soon back in control, attacking Williams with an assortment of shots delivered from his awkward, yet highly effective, hands-down style. Sergio won round two handily.

Martinez continued his dominance in the third, but Williams bounced back by firing his mile-long jab in duplicate and triplicate. Martinez landed a big right hook early in the round, and another midway through that hurt Williams again. Martinez won the close third round after trading shots with Williams before the bell.

Martinez started strong in round four, landing two straight-left-right hook combinations in the opening seconds, and following up with two big straight left hands. Williams landed a huge counter right and a big left hand halfway through, and a booming left hand that shook Martinez at the bell. An accidental clash of heads caused a nasty cut over Williams' left eye.

Williams worked his left hand overtime in round five, landing two beauties in the opening seconds. Martinez was busy firing stiff jabs to the body, but a four-punch combination, topped off with a hard straight left from Williams forced Martinez to clinch, after which both fighters wrestled to the floor. By this time, both fighters had absorbed each other's best shots.

Williams was busier in round six, landing two big right hooks midway through, and a hard straight left late in the round, while Martinez paced himself with his jab.

Round seven was a close round, with Martinez working his jab to the body, before trading hooks with Williams. Sergio landed another hard right hook, but Williams answered with a hard counter right, left combination. Martinez took the final minute of the round, but Williams out-punched him overall.

Martinez focused on the body of Williams in round eight, hammering him with straight lefts and hard right jabs, before landing a left, right combination to the head. Williams landed some jabs and a double straight left, but Martinez countered with a nice right hook and a right, left combination to the body. Sergio ended the round with a huge right hook at the bell.

In round nine, Williams showed just how great a jab he has, using it exclusively, with several right hooks mixed in, to keep the shorter "Maravilla" on the outside. Williams won this round with his jab.

Round ten was a mirror image of round nine, only in reverse. Martinez jabbed to the body, and then countered with a big right hand followed by a hard straight left in the opening minute. He then went to work on Williams' body with his jab over the last half of the round.

Martinez took round eleven with a higher work rate over the first two minutes, including a big right-left combination midway through, but Williams scored with a left to the body and a nice right hook in the middle of a big exchange to end the round.

It was fitting that this bout came down to the final round. If Martinez could have won it on judge Lynne Carter's scorecard instead of just Julie Lederman's, the bout would have been a draw. As it was, the round could have gone either way.

Martinez opened the twelfth round with a big straight left, but Williams countered with a big right of his own. Williams landed two nice combinations, but Martinez caught him with a hard lead left hand. Williams cuffed Martinez with a left that sent him down, but was correctly ruled "no knockdown" by referee Randy Neumann. Williams then landed a left uppercut followed by a big right-left combination. Martinez wasn't finished, and he landed a huge straight left hand before trading with Williams on the inside until the final bell. The crowd was on its feet the entire round.

The scorecards read 115-113 and an off-base 119-110 for Williams, and 114-114.

After the bout, Williams stated, "He is a warrior. He got some big shots in and I got some big shots in. If the fans and HBO want to see it again, I'm all for it."

After posing for some pictures, "The Punisher" left to have his cuts stitched up.

Martinez, classy even in defeat said, "I had a feared fighter in front of me, but I had no fear at all. Paul Williams is a great, great champion. I am glad that everyone got to see a great fight. I hope that in the second fight I will do even better. I will not talk about the judges and what happened on the scorecards. That is not my business. I will start to work tomorrow in order to do better in the rematch." -- Rick Scharmberg

Williams vs Martinez Photos

Arreola Downs Minto in Memorable Slugfest!

Heavyweight contender Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola (28-1, 25 KOs) of Riverside, CA bounced back from his loss to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko with a hard fought fourth round stoppage of Butler, PA's Brian "The Beast" Minto (34-3, 22 KOs).

As both fighters felt each other out in the first round, it looked like a father against his son as Minto gave away several inches in height and over forty-five pounds in weight. Arreola seemed confident in the early going as he catching Minto with the heavier shots as both fighters tried to feel each other out. Late in the round, Minto began to take risks and dove in and landed a hard left-right combination, and then got out of punching range as Arreola whizzed a big right just past his face.

The fight went on the inside for much round two as both fighters tried to get ring supremacy, much to the delight of the fans. Minto was like a fireplug and walked through several big shots to unload his thudding hooks to the body, and even followed with a few uppercuts. However, the size and power of Arreola began to do its damage as his constant overhand rights produced a huge swelling on the left cheekbone of Minto. Both fighters each took turns gaining the advantage with heavy shots, which included some shocking right hands from Minto, late in the round. Arreola was like a rock and just wouldn't budge and continued to load up the heavy right hands. The crowd cheered wildly for both fighters' efforts in a classic round.

Arreola sat down on his heavy right hands as Minto tried vainly to keep attacking on the inside in round three. The tired Minto changed his tactics and began to work the body late in the round and then stepped out and used his hand speed to land a couple of rights up top. Arreola looked to load up and land the heavier but fewer big right hands on the face. Those right hands did their damage though as Minto's cheek continued to swell.

Then came an amazing fourth round as Minto stood toe-to-toe and waged a war for the most part in the center of the ring with the much bigger Arreola. Both fighters swung away with reckless abandon, in a battle of who would land their heavy bombs. Arreola was the first to land a huge short right, which dropped Minto. The crowd roared as Minto showed why they call him "The Beast", as he got up and continued to take heavy shots, but would not stop coming forward. He landed several big shots of his own while still taking more big shots. Arreola finally caught him with two more big right hands and had him stumbling toward him still trying to punch and tie up. "The Nightmare" then spun him around in the corner and caught him with a devastating two punch combination. The combination wobbled Minto to the ropes and his head went under the top rope. Referee Eddie Cotton failed to get in there and either call an eight count, as the ropes kept Minto from falling to the canvas again or at least untangling him from the ropes. Arreola seized the opportunity and unloaded a blistering left hook up top as a defenseless Minto tried to get his head underneath the top rope and back into the ring. The left hand did its' damage and Minto collapsed to the canvas in a heap. Surprisingly, Minto rose to his feet, but he stumbled as the count reached ten forcing referee Eddie cotton to wave the fight off at 2:40 of round four.

The impressive win, again should put Chris Arreola right back into title contention.

"Regardless of my previous loss (to Vitali Klitschko), I am still the top contender in the world. Besides, who is better than Vitali?"

Arreola's weight, which many have attacked him for seemed not to bother him in this fight. "I came in here at 263 and I hear people make fun of me behind my back, but I come to fight," said Arreola. You can't weigh heart and Arreola, like Minto's, will continue to make him one of the most exciting fighters in the heavyweight division. -- Kurt Wolfheimer.

Arreola vs Minto Photos

Tiger Mauls the Gentleman!

In an exciting heavyweight rumble, former world title challenger Tony "The Tiger" Thompson (33-2, 21 KOs), of Washington, DC stopped Chazz "The Gentleman" Witherspoon (26-2, 18 KOs), of Philadelphia, PA at 2:13 of the ninth round of a scheduled ten round heavyweight bout.

On paper, Tony Thompson held a slight one inch height advantage over the 6'4" cousin of former two-time heavyweight champion "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon, but in the ring, Thompson appeared much bigger.

Chazz opened with good movement to prevent Thompson from zeroing in. Witherspoon was busier, and took the opening round.

Thompson, a southpaw, got down to business in round two. His punches were slower, yet heavier, than his opponent's shots. Thompson was able to pace himself well by not loading up on any particular punch Instead, he was able to keep a very busy pace and throw (and land) a lot of punches for a big man.

Witherspoon, who customarily stands between rounds like George Foreman used to do, began to wait for Thompson to throw first, and as a result soon found himself behind three rounds to one after four rounds. His hands were also starting to drop.

Witherspoon came out with a higher guard in round five, and took the round with some nice combinations on the inside. Thompson stung Witherspoon early in round six with a double right hook. Tony also landed a few nice body shots before losing his mouthpiece.

Thompson stepped it up in round seven, as Chazz started to fade. Thompson's high volume of punches, plus his 16-pound weight advantage were taking their toll. A hard left hand - right hook combination with a minute left in the round shook Witherspoon, as did a straight left at the bell.

It was all Thompson in round eight, as he battered Witherspoon with an assortment of short punches, including two clubbing two-punch combinations at the bell.

Midway through round nine, Thompson landed a huge right hand that sent Chazz into a corner. Thompson stepped in and connected with three rights, and referee Benji Estevez gave Witherspoon a standing eight count. After Thompson followed up with three unanswered punches, the referee and Witherspoon's corner agreed to stop the fight. -- Rick Scharmberg

Thompson vs Witherspoon Photos

Quintana, Diaz, Wiggins Win on Undercard!

Former WBO welterweight champion Carlos "El Indio" Quintana (27-2, 21 KOs), of Mocha, Puerto Rico got off the floor to stop former world title challenger Jesse "El Rayo" Feliciano (15-8-3, 9 KOs) at :59 seconds of the third round of a scheduled ten round junior middleweight bout.

It was target practice from the beginning for the southpaw Quintana, as he worked the head body of Feliciano with his left hand, and landing a hard left - right combination at the bell ending the first round.

Round two started the same way, with Quintana landing at will with right hooks, lefts to the body, and a big straight left that hurt Feliciano. Suddenly, Feliciano caught Quintana with a perfectly timed counter left that sent him to the bottom rope for an official knockdown. Quintana got up and started his attack anew.

Quintana was on the outside, boxing smartly, when a two-punch combination (according to referee Randy Neumann) opened a bad cut over Feliciano's right eye, which, after an inspection from the ringside physician, caused the fight to be stopped.

Afterwards, Quintana told the crowd, "I knew it was going to be a good fight. Now I want to fight a champion at 147 or 154 pounds. I want to fight Antonio Margarito. I would go to Mexico to fight him, no problem." -- Rick Scharmberg

Unbeaten junior featherweight prospect Jorge Diaz of New Brunswick, NJ continued his winning ways with a one round destruction Caguas, Puerto Rico's Luis Paneto in their scheduled six round contest.

Paneto had a several inch height and reach advantage, but chose not to jab and move, but to stay inside, which more suited his opponent's style. The heavy hands of Diaz made good on the opportunity, as he banged away at the exposed mid section with very little coming back in return. As the round progressed, you could Paneto trying to keep him off him, but it was to no avail. By mid round, Diaz had him constantly against the ropes, where he wailed away at the body with short, thudding hooks that forced clinches. Caught in the corner and out gunned, Luis Paneto dropped his hands to cover the body. It would be his ultimate mistake as Diaz uncorked a devastating overhand right and sent him sprawling face first to the canvas. Paneto vainly tried to reach his feet, but did not beat Referee Eddie Cotton's ten count, forcing an end to the bout at 2:53 of the opening round.

The heavy-handed Jorge Diaz raises his record to 11-0, 6 KOs. Luis Paneto falls to 5-7-2, 2 KOs.

Diaz appears to be one of the hotter prospects on the east coast and will soon be a force in the junior featherweight division. -- Kurt Wolfheimer

Junior middleweight prospect Jeremiah Wiggins, of Newport News, VA remained undefeated with a convincing six round unanimous decision victory over a game Manuel Guzman, of Lancaster, PA in the opening bout of the evening.

Wiggins looked like the much bigger fighter and controlled the ring in the early going as he methodically worked the body and head with short shots. Guzman, who is normally known for trading when on the inside, seemed content to move and dive in with the occasional uppercut and left jab. This all changed late in round two as Guzman seemed to begin top gain confidence when trading.

Williams was undaunted from the attacks and pushed Guzman against the ropes in round four and banged a left hook off him. Guzman slid off the ropes but Jeremiah Wiggins showed his experience and confidently pressed him with two and three-punch combinations, as Guzman was force to trade when cornered.

Guzman's corner urged him to work on the inside. Even though he was able to get on the inside, he just didn't let his hand go enough, which allowed Wiggins to control the round.

Behind big on the scorecards, Guzman went to work on the final round and continually traded with Wiggins, who looked exhausted. Guzman seemed to hurt him with a right hand but did not have enough energy or power to finish him as Wiggins clinched. The size and power of Wiggins showed when he let go with a heavy five-punch combination in round six that slowed the barrage of wild swings. Guzman, though tired, never gave up and tried to fight back until the bell sounded to end the fight.

All three judges saw the bout in favor of Jeremiah Wiggins by scores of 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56 respectively.

Jeremiah Wiggins continues his impressive rise as he ups his record to 7-0-1, 3 KOs, while Manuel Guzman slides to 6-9-2, 2 KOs. -- Kurt Wolfheimer