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Source: The Sweet Science

ATLANTIC CITY --- With a single punch, a devastating left hook, Sergio Gabriel Martinez retained his world middleweight title, separated arch-rival Paul Williams from his senses, and may well have ended Manny Pacquiao’s stranglehold on Fighter of the Year honors.

A year after dropping a majority decision to Williams in a fight many thought he won, Martinez left no doubt about the rematch, knocking the taller man stone cold just 1:10 into the second round of Saturday night’s card at Boardwalk Hall.

Many had expected the rematch to unfold as cautiously as had its predecessor, but after a frenetic first round (we gave Martinez a slight edge) the two picked up the pace in the second – for as long as it lasted. A minute into the round they threw simultaneous lefts, and suddenly only one man was standing.

“The difference was that I attacked in the second,” said Martinez. “I thought if I applied the pressure he might make a mistake.”

Mistake? A southpaw, Williams carelessly threw a long, looping, roundhouse punch – one that never arrived. Before it got within six inches of its intended target, Martinez had stepped inside it and turning his head to the side, driven home a left of his own that had his full weight behind it.

Referee Earl Morton counted, although he needn’t have bothered. Before Williams even woke up, Martinez was being paraded around the ring in a gold crown that looked as if it had been appropriated from the local Burger King franchise.

“I knew it was going to be a tough fight,” said a rueful Williams. “I got caught with a punch.”

Even happier than Martinez may have been promoter Lou DiBella, whose fortunes may also have turned with the punch. Forced by HBO into a rematch neither he or Martinez particularly wanted, both promoter and boxer will now likely find themselves in the drivers seat.

“Pacquiao, Mayweather, and Martinez are the three best fighters in the world,” said DiBella, who was probably also correct in noting that the ferocity of Saturday night’s kayo isn’t exactly going to bring prospective opponents swarming to his door.

On the other hand, the emphatic nature of his victory is likely to put Martinez at the head table at the 2011 Boxing Writers Dinner. Pacquiao hasn’t had a bad 2010, but in Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito, he beat a couple of guys he was supposed to beat. Martinez, on the other hand, was a big underdog when he beat Kelly Pavlik to win the 160-pound title, and then topped that here Saturday night by punishing the Punisher. If he’s not the Fighter of the Year right now, he’s the leader in the clubhouse.