Paul Williams back July 9

[marbleheadmaui]

Williams does need a tune up, so I have no issues with this match up. I am glad he is back, it has been a long time. Hopefully we see a few refinements.

Right on. I may not like HBO's choice, but I like Williams. You raised the right issue. Will he have learned and improved or is he who he is?

As a buddy of mine said about how Williams should fight "Stand tall and jab, jab, jab tall man!"

[rjj tszyu]

I'm glad Williams is back. I hope he gets a good KO victory here. He seems like one of the good guys of the sport and after such a stunning KO defeat he needs the tune up to shake rust and to get some confidence back. I wouldn't write him off beating Martinez in a rubber match as long as he looks at his mistakes carefully. As for Cotto and Alvarez, providing the loss to Martinez hasn't left too much damage I think he beats both.

[Spicoli]

I recall Williams fighting his height and range vs Margarito....other then that we have been waiting forever it seems. His defense is his offense and he falls all over his own height, bends in and loops shots. I dont think he ever beats Martinez and should avoid him at all costs.

[No Contest]

I really dont get how people can say Martinez has bigger fish to fry. Williams didnt have to give him the rematch and most wouldnt have done it, so now Martinez wins and its on to bigger fish....hypocrites. What bigger fish exactly? He's not getting a Pac fight, I doubt Martinez goes to light middle for anyone besides Pac. Canelo doesnt seem ready. Mayweather is highly unlikely. Only bigger fish I see is possibly Felix Sturm, if the fish are actually just dollar signs. He's gonna have to go to Germany most likely. I could see him moving up to 168 for money fights as well, but at middle Williams is one of the bigger fish. What if vasquez did the same thing? Oh I beat Marquez by ko, I got nothing to prove anymore. We wouldnt have gotten the best fight out of the series between them.

[skel1983]

I really dont get how people can say Martinez has bigger fish to fry. Williams didnt have to give him the rematch and most wouldnt have done it, so now Martinez wins and its on to bigger fish....hypocrites. What bigger fish exactly? He's not getting a Pac fight, I doubt Martinez goes to light middle for anyone besides Pac. Canelo doesnt seem ready. Mayweather is highly unlikely. Only bigger fish I see is possibly Felix Sturm, if the fish are actually just dollar signs. He's gonna have to go to Germany most likely. I could see him moving up to 168 for money fights as well, but at middle Williams is one of the bigger fish. What if vasquez did the same thing? Oh I beat Marquez by ko, I got nothing to prove anymore. We wouldnt have gotten the best fight out of the series between them.

Bit different mate, Marquez didnt get KTFO with one punch, Martinez ko's Williams again if it happens.

[Mars_ax]

I really dont get how people can say Martinez has bigger fish to fry. Williams didnt have to give him the rematch and most wouldnt have done it, so now Martinez wins and its on to bigger fish....hypocrites. What bigger fish exactly? He's not getting a Pac fight, I doubt Martinez goes to light middle for anyone besides Pac. Canelo doesnt seem ready. Mayweather is highly unlikely. Only bigger fish I see is possibly Felix Sturm, if the fish are actually just dollar signs. He's gonna have to go to Germany most likely. I could see him moving up to 168 for money fights as well, but at middle Williams is one of the bigger fish. What if vasquez did the same thing? Oh I beat Marquez by ko, I got nothing to prove anymore. We wouldnt have gotten the best fight out of the series between them.

Bit different mate, Marquez didnt get KTFO with one punch, Martinez ko's Williams again if it happens.

Bingo!

[Rantcatrat]

This is a horrible main event. First, HBO turns down Zbik as an opponent for Martinez and then they turn down Ishida as an opponent for Martinez. Now, Zbik is fighting Chavez Jr. and Williams is fighting Ishidal...on HBO!

Williams should have a tune-up, but tune-ups for a guy who most recently was KO'd don't belong on HBO. They belong on ESPN or off cable. Talk about favoritism. If anything the boxer taking all the tough challenges, should get the tune-up on the premium cable network, not the guy loser.

[Mars_ax]

I really dont get how people can say Martinez has bigger fish to fry. Williams didnt have to give him the rematch and most wouldnt have done it, so now Martinez wins and its on to bigger fish....hypocrites. What bigger fish exactly? He's not getting a Pac fight, I doubt Martinez goes to light middle for anyone besides Pac. Canelo doesnt seem ready. Mayweather is highly unlikely. Only bigger fish I see is possibly Felix Sturm, if the fish are actually just dollar signs. He's gonna have to go to Germany most likely. I could see him moving up to 168 for money fights as well, but at middle Williams is one of the bigger fish. What if vasquez did the same thing? Oh I beat Marquez by ko, I got nothing to prove anymore. We wouldnt have gotten the best fight out of the series between them.

A hypocrite? I don't think so, but thanks for the insult.

Just saying, Williams needs to get himself back in the mix and prove he's still a player before he can start thinking about a rematch with Martinez. And why would Martinez want a rematch with a guy he's already destroyed? And I also doubt that, right now, because of the brutal KO, there's much interest in a trilogy.

Like I said, Paul needs to get himself back in contention first, and Martinez has "bigger fish to fry", if saying this makes me a hypocrite in your eyes, I think I can live with it.

[Rantcatrat]

I really dont get how people can say Martinez has bigger fish to fry. Williams didnt have to give him the rematch and most wouldnt have done it, so now Martinez wins and its on to bigger fish....hypocrites. What bigger fish exactly? He's not getting a Pac fight, I doubt Martinez goes to light middle for anyone besides Pac. Canelo doesnt seem ready. Mayweather is highly unlikely. Only bigger fish I see is possibly Felix Sturm, if the fish are actually just dollar signs. He's gonna have to go to Germany most likely. I could see him moving up to 168 for money fights as well, but at middle Williams is one of the bigger fish. What if vasquez did the same thing? Oh I beat Marquez by ko, I got nothing to prove anymore. We wouldnt have gotten the best fight out of the series between them.

Skel was on point with his response. Just to add, Williams is planning on staying at junior middleweight for the foreseeable future. His team doesn't want a fight with Martinez now and not until he makes a move to 60', which from what I understand, is unlikely for the time being. It make sense too because there are more money fights at 54'.

[Ant Live]

Good fight for Paul. Hope he wins then go out and fight Vanes (something). That way, if he wins, he can be rank #1 across the board for a title shot.

[Rantcatrat]

I'm not going to state I'm not excited about seeing Paul Williams back in action because I am. I didn't mean to sound too anti-Paul before. I am, and was, a big fan of his. I just believe that HBO should use its resources to make great fights and that this is NOT a great fight. It's a weak fight at best. It belongs on espn or as an off-tv undercard.

Does everyone know that Paul Williams turned down Pawel Wolak, Deandre Latimore, and Sergiy Dzinziruk as opponents? One thing for sure, after his KO loss to Sergio, he definitely isn't "the most feared man on the planet" anymore. Not when you turn down Pawel Wolak and Deandre Latimore.