Paul William vs Sergio Martinez

tv tread at top of page

 

:deal

 

:good

 

Martinez is one of my favorite current fighters, but I got Williams by decision....I scored the first fight for Paul 115-113...

 

At least he got the prediction right :good.

 

Martinez is now the middleweight champ. Not a trinket holder. Not a vacant or interim or silver beltholder. He is the middleweight champion of the world.

Yet, HBO, according to anonymous sources who refused to go on record, the deal for this fight does not recognize Martinez as champion. Martinez is not getting any of the gate money for this fight. He is not getting any of the sponsorship money for this fight. And, to top it all off, Williams, a fighter who is billed as the “Most Avoided” or “Feared Man in Boxing” who can fight from 147 to 160, first demanded a catchweight of 158 pounds for the 160-pound title. According to these sources, the deal was a take-it-or-don’t-be-on-HBO-this-year offer to Martinez.

The reasoning for the catchweight, according to Williams, is simple. He wants to face Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather after this fight and so he wanted Martinez, who will most likely weigh closer to super middleweight the night of the fight, to stay closer to 147.

“What we’ve said is that we were gearing up for a 147-pound fight in our next fight, which happens to be this one,” said Willams. “As you know, we were hoping to get either Pacquiao or Mayweather. So that was the reason [we] was light going into the Martinez fight. The max weight is 158, to make everything clear.”

Williams, who spent a large part of his career at 147-pounds, despite his height, says it’s hard to gain weight to get into the middleweight division.

Another reason given for the catchweight is that promoter Dan Goossen feels Williams is putting himself at risk taking the fight.

"The reason why is because Paul is always taking additional risks when he fights over the welterweight limit. We’ve got a 147-pounder and for the last few years, we’ve been giving up a lot by going up in weight.

Williams’ trainer, George Peterson, seemed to take both umbrage with the questioning of the catchweight imposed on the champion and liberties with the middleweight division’s history.

“Well, I don’t understand this issue,” said Peterson. “You know, I heard this several times. You know, Hopkins had that built for 13, 14 years and the most he ever weighed is 157 and I didn’t see that - hear that question servicing back then.”

The bit about Hopkins is true but the fact is only one fighter, Oscar De La Hoya, asked him for a catchweight of 158 pounds. Oscar was able to pull off that demand because the paycheck he was offering was so good and the fight was so winnable for Hopkins.

In this case, it’s hard to understand how Williams was able to pull off the gate, the sponsors and a catchweight.

If Williams’ adviser, Al Haymon, ever went on record, perhaps we’d get an answer.

“I mean, I just can’t understand the difference in two pounds. I mean what’s the difference if a man - if the sanction body says, ‘You know, this weight limit is a certain thing and this young man makes this weight limit,’” said Peterson.

That is exactly the question: If two pounds doesn’t matter, then why did Williams and Al Haymon ask for it?

The reasoning of, “We’re hoping for a welterweight fight,” will mean absolutely nothing if Williams comes into fight night weighing over the limit of 160 pounds. All the talk of having trouble getting up in weight will be meaningless blather.

The real reason, at least in this writer’s opinion, is that Martinez weighed in at 159½ in his last fight, is 35, and just spent several months on a victory tour. At the WBC mandatory 30-day weigh-in, Martinez weighed 176 pounds to Williams 162. Last week, Martinez’s weight was 166. That might be all you need to know about why the catchweight was asked for.

http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-b...-middle-catchweight-championship-of-the-world

 

Thanks for posting that ScouseLad.

I'd be surprised if Martinez has any problems making the weight.

 

remember you can sign up for this and other fights for half price (£3.49) per month with promocode P921. Sorry for plugging but we need to get the support on this one!