I too was STUNNED but damit Paul fight with your hands up! he has always been a sucker for that punch
He came in with the wrong WRONG gameplan, he was getting hit with that same left hook from the first bell and changed nothing, you could see Martinez in the 2nd queing it up and when he landed, he knew instantly that the fight was over. Paul Williams, using the tools at his disposal is enough for anyone at WW / LMW.
Right after the first Martinez fight, I said that Williams had reached his capacity. Due to that terrible defence of his, last night was a knockout waiting to happen. Best of luck to him, though.
He will come back. I don't understand why so many people are saying he won't be able to recover from this. He might fight more cautiously from now on but he will def be back.
Yes he was feared as a WW because he'd enjoy(on average) a 10-11 inch reach advantage and a 3-5 inch height advantage. Noone's scared of him at 160. You'd see the same situation if Caballero decided to move up 2 divisions and fight at 135.
That's why his fans are worried. Paul Williams isn't a cautious fighter and it's really too late for him to reinvent himself. Might be a slow crawl to Shot City from here.:good
He falls in, he is great to watch and I'm a fan but I did see it comming. Maybe not in such devistating style but I figured he would win if he kept his reach, if he didn't he would lose. Well, he was giving it up and he got caught. The guy is just way too easy to hit, that is why I would have favored Pavlik over him.
Sorry but given you were taking the **** on here for people supporting Margarito and laughing as they thought he had a chance, its hard to feel sorry for you now your favourite has lost brutally. I said a few days back if Williams didnt take his chance now, he would drift out the sport, and I fear that may now happen. Nonetheless, Williams seems like a nice guy, so obviously its not good to see, but he could come back and fight at world level, its just not clear how succesful he will be doing so. I think he should clear his head, take some time out, come back with a few easy testers, then try for Pavlik if hes still at middle, or maybe go back to light middle and look for Cotto or a Cintron rematch. If im honest, I dont think he'll be the same again. This isnt like the Quintana loss where he went the distance, then rematched and destroyed him. Its the kind of loss that can kill a fighters self belief and hunger to reach the top.
I was utterly shocked as I previously hadn't at any point considered an early one-punch ko defeat as a possible conclusion to this fight. I similtaneously was jacked up over the sheer spectacle of the ko and also happy for Martinez.
I have been critical of Williams and his trainer in the past because I felt that he didn't use his abilities to the fullest. Seeing how he gets tagged coming in by most top fighters, I thought he'd get seriously hurt by someone, but the way Martinez put him out I wasn't expecting. I felt bad for Paul and hopefully he works on his style and comes back better.
Williams should go back to Welterweight and try and force Pacquiao or Floyd to fight him. He can start by taking Berto's title if Pac or Floyd don't get to Berto first. Actually a good next fight for Williams before he gets to Welterweight could be a rematch with Margo.
Just shows you how lethal martinez is and how good he really his. He is a great boxer. I didnt expect to see a KO like that. It was ****ing sweet. I think him and pac at 154 would be one of the becasue fights around. With pacman pounding on margo and martinez's Brutal KO of the year.