| 17 April 2010
With Lucian Bute making quick work of Edison Miranda on the undercard, Pavlik and Martinez should be making their way to the ring within the next 15 minutes.
And here they come. Martinez is walking out now to the sound of System of a Down.
Pavlik is in the ring. He walked out to his usual Korn song.
HBO is wasting absolutely no time. The introductions are already underway. Martinez is 44-2-2 with 24 KOs while Pavlik is 36-1 with 32 KOs.
Here we go.
Round 1:
Martinez starts circling Pavlik. Kelly tries to get the jab going. Martinez is trying to get close. He lands three left hands and backs up the champ. Pavlik misses with a jab. The height advantage for Pavlik is evident. Martinez has the speed advantage. Kelly Pavlik is already cut over the left eye. It looks like it was caused by a punch. The cut is pretty bad already. Martinez is fighting a good fight so far. Martinez falls, but it was correctly ruled a slip.
Parker: 10-9 Martinez
Tylwalk: 10-9 Martinez
Uatu: 10-9 Martinez
Round 2:
Pavlik misses with a wide left hand. Martinez counters with a great right hand. Martinez lands a huge left hook. He catches Kelly while coming in again with a straight left hand. And another left. Pavlik's cut is really getting bad. Sergio is landing all kinds of punches from all different angles. Kelly is going through an embarrassing round right now. Martinez lands a left to the body and a right upstairs. Every time Kelly comes forward he gets hit.
Parker: 10-9 Martinez
Tylwalk: 10-9 Martinez
Uatu: 10-9 Martinez
Round 3:
Martinez runs to the center of the ring. Both still look fresh minus Pavlik's eye. Pavlik lands a good left hook. Martinez ducks away from a hook. Martinez lands a jab and counters Pavlik again while he comes in. Martinez lands another one-two combo. The cut opens up once again. Pavlik misses with a loaded right hand. Martinez counters Pavlik again. Martinez is keeping his hands well below his waist but is getting out of the way of Pavlik's fists very well.
Parker: 10-9 Martinez
Tylwalk: 10-9 Martinez
Uatu: 10-9 Martinez
Round 4:
Pavlik is trying to close the distance between them. Martinez gets in a sneaky left. Pavlik lands a glancing right hand. Martinez lands a wide right hook. Pavlik lands a left jab to the chest. Now a right. Martinez is landing punches from all kinds of weird angles. Martinez lands a great left hand. He is taunting Kelly in there. Now a right hook from Martinez. He counters Kelly again while coming in.
Parker: 10-9 Martinez
Tylwalk: 10-9 Martinez
Uatu: 10-9 Martinez
Round 5:
Martinez fakes with a right, but pulls back. Pavlik misses with a left. Martinez continues to circle Pavlik. No punches from either fighter for the last few seconds. Martinez lands a right jab. And another. He counters Pavlik with the right hand once again while Kelly comes forward. Pavlik misses with a right hook. Pavlik lands a right hand and the crowd erupts. Pavlik lands his best punch of the night and knocks Martinez backward. Martinez has some swelling over the right eye. Pavlik may have won that round, but it was still pretty close.
Parker: 10-9 Pavlik
Tylwalk: 10-9 Pavlik
Uatu: 10-9 Pavlik
Round 6:
Pavlik looks to be getting more comfortable in there. He's taking some chances to land some more punches. Pavlik misses with a left hook. Martinez lands a straight left. Pavlik lands a jab. Pavlik is trying to counter Martinez, and he's having some success. Martinez connects with a right hook. Pavlik has adapted well in this round to Martinez's game plan. Pavlik lands a good right cross. Martinez lands a right hand before the bell.
Parker: 10-9 Pavlik
Tylwalk: 10-9 Martinez
Uatu: 10-9 Pavlik
Round 7:
Pavlik needs to let his hands go when he has Martinez in the corner, which has been fairly often. Pavlik lands a left and a right. Now a solid left jab. Martinez lands a wide right hook. Martinez lands a lunging right hand. Pavlik lands a right hook and hits Martinez off balance, sending him down. He's fine, but it's definitely a knockdown. Kelly lands a big right hand. Pavlik lands a straight left. Martinez gets two of his punches blocked.
Parker: 10-8 Pavlik
Tylwalk: 10-8 Pavlik
Uatu: 10-8 Pavlik
Round 8:
Martinez needs to take more chances now since the cards probably aren't in his favor. Pavlik lands a left hook. Martinez continues to try to counter, but Pavlik has adjusted very well. Martinez's accuracy has decreased as well. Pavlik lands another left hook. Martinez lands a straight left. Pavlik lands a good jab. Now two more. Pavlik lands another great jab before the bell.
Parker: 10-9 Pavlik
Tylwalk: 10-9 Pavlik
Uatu: 10-9 Pavlik
Round 9:
Martinez goes for the one-two combo, but it's mostly blocked. He is throwing more combinations now with success. Martinez opened a cut under the right eye of Pavlik. Martinez is having a great round right now, landing all kinds of punches at will. Pavlik is in his shell. Martinez lands some more combos. Pavlik's eye is a mess. His whole face is a mess. Martinez is landing more. Martinez lands some more punches to the head. Pavlik tries to load with the power punches. Pavlik gets hit with more right hands and lefts as well. Martinez taunts. Pavlik's face is totally red. Pavlik has to be blind in there. Pavlik misses wide. Martinez has completely opened up Pavlik's face.
Parker: 10-9 Martinez
Tylwalk: 10-9 Martinez
Uatu: 10-9 Martinez
Round 10:
Pavlik's eye hasn't closed at all. Martinez has total control. Pavlik can't see in there. This may end soon. Pavlik is discouraged. Pavlik has the red mask again. Martinez is trying to pour on the punches and is having lots of success. Pavlik is trying to win by KO before this gets worse. Martinez is sticking to the game plan. The ref is eyeing up Pavlik. Martinez gets a straight left in on the inside. Pavlik is missing with the jab. Pavlik is a mess in there. Pavlik lands a right. Martinez lands a right. Martinez lands another combo. That is the worst cut I've seen in a long time, maybe ever. I can't believe the fight is still going on.
Parker: 10-9 Martinez
Tylwalk: 10-9 Martinez
Uatu: 10-9 Martinez
Round 11:
Pavlik's cut opens before it's even touches. Pavlik lands a hard right hook. Martinez counters with a left. Now another combo on the inside, and Sergio ducks away from Kelly's offense. Martinez lands a left hand. Kelly lands a right. Martinez misses with a left. Kelly's face is a mess once again. Kelly lands a good right hand. Martinez lands two more slick straights. Martinez counters with a left again. Pavlik gets hit and stumbles backward. He's covering up. Martinez is landing all kinds of punches in there right before the bell.
Parker: 10-9 Martinez
Tylwalk: 10-9 Martinez
Uatu: 10-9 Martinez
Round 12:
Pavlik's corner fails at stopping the cuts again. His trainer tells him that he needs to win this round big, which is good advice. Pavlik misses with some jabs. Martinez lands a great left hand, and Pavlik stumbles very hard into the ropes. He looks like he has his legs. Martinez can't coast if he wants to win the fight. Pavlik lands a right hand. Pavlik lands a jab. Martinez lands a stiff jab. Martinez lands a triple left hand. One minute left. Pavlik's face is a disaster area. Martinez counters again. Pavlik misses with a jab. The crowd is quiet. Martinez lands a big right hook. Martinez leads with the left. It's over.
Parker: 10-9 Martinez
Tylwalk: 10-9 Martinez
Uatu: 10-9 Martinez
The judges score the bout 115-111, 116-111, and 115-112,all to the winner by unanimous decision... and new Ring Magazine, WBC and WBO middleweight champion... Sergio Martinez.
Parker: 115-112 Martinez
Tylwalk: 116-111 Martinez
Uatu: 115-112 Martinez
After the fight, Martinez says he stuck to the game plan, but he knew he had to finish the fight well. He adds that he really pressed at the end to make sure that he would get the decision. He says he can't describe his moment of winning the title. When asked about a rematch with Williams, he says he will fight anyone who steps up.
Pavlik says Martinez just caught him with good shots, and he was fighting an uphill battle with the cuts. He says he had success when he was using his feints. He adds that he couldn't see the punches coming at the end. He's asked about the rematch and he says we'll see if he wants to continue to fight in the weight division.
