Pierre Benoist Punishes Sergio Martinez After Classic Scrap
By: Andrew Harrison
Category: alex arthur, alexander povetkin, carlos quintana, chris arreola, frankie gavin, james degale, jesse feliciano, marco huck, matthew macklin, ola afolabi, paul williams, sergio martinez, tony bellew
Paul ‘The Punisher’ Williams and Sergio Martinez posted up a late candidate for fight of the year last night, thrilling fans through twelve classic rounds of boxing in Atlantic City.
After both men hit the deck in the opener, they proceeded to tear into each other for the remainder of the contest, battering one another remorselessly throughout.
It was a difficult one to score with momentum swinging this way and that, yet it was undoubtedly close. What did you like, the busier work rate of Williams or the sharper and heavier punching of Martinez?
This was reflected on two of the judge’s cards, with Julie Lederman returning it 114-114 and Lynne Carter favouring Williams by 115-113.
The third judge, Mr. Pierre Benoist then marred what had been another fantastic night for the sport, by having the temerity to hand in a card which went for Williams by 119-110. He only gave Martinez a single round.
I don’t recall a more fanciful piece of judging in recent memory, one which should really be looked at closely to evaluate Mr. Benoist’s suitability in determining the direction of other men’s careers.
I personally scored it 115-114, or 6-5-1 in rounds to Martinez but have no complaints whatsoever with the cards of Lederman or Carter, nor HBO’s scorer Harold Lederman, who had it 115-113 for Williams. I preferred the cleaner and more eye catching punches landed by Martinez over the volume of shots landed by Williams.
It was a fight which enhanced the reputations of both men and one which felt like a true championship match, despite the fact there were no leather straps on parade and that oddly, the two best 154lb fighters on the planet chose to duel up at middleweight.
It was a contest to savour and one to rate alongside JuanMa Lopez-Rogers Mtagwa and Juan Diaz-Juan Manuel Marquez as the best of 2009.
Elsewhere, Alex Arthur dropped an eight round decision to Nigel Wright in Newcastle, a defeat which may draw the curtain on his somewhat disappointing career. European middleweight champ Matthew Macklin eased to win number 26 with a ten round decision over Rafa Sosa Pintos in Dublin. Frank Warren’s crop of young prospects including Frankie Gavin, Tony Bellew and James DeGale all recorded wins on the Tyne whilst Marco Huck decisioned Ola Afolabi in Germany. There were also wins for Chris Arreola and Alexander Povetkin whilst Carlos Quintana stopped Jesse Feliciano in three.
2 comments on “Pierre Benoist Punishes Sergio Martinez After Classic Scrap”
Leave a Reply
Blog at WordPress.com. Theme: Duotone by Automattic.
Correction:
Harold’s card was 115-113 not 116-114.
Cheers Joe, I’d just watched the damn fight as well!! I’ll correct the post, thanks for pointing that out, I hate errors myself when reading.