15rounds.com Claudia Bocanegra was at the Palm West in New York City to capture the images from the press conference to announce world Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez November 20th title defense against Paul Williams in a rematch of their thrilling fight in December. The bout will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City

On Thursday, Goossen Tutor Promotions and DiBella Entertainment held a press conference in New York City to promote the Nov. 20 rematch between Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez and Paul “The Punisher” Williams. The bout will take place in Atlantic City, New Jersey at Boardwalk Hall and is hosted by Caesars Atlantic City.

15Rounds.com was there to cover the press conference. Notes & quotes below.

Sergio Martinez:

— At the beginning of the press conference, Martinez was awarded the Ring Magazine middleweight championship belt.

— Martinez said, “Nobody wants to fight Paul Williams and nobody wants to fight “Maravilla” Martinez, so we have no choice but to fight each other.”

— “What we did the first time, I want to do it again,” Martinez said with regards to the excitement the first fight brought. “I want this fight to be a reflection of my career in the ring.”

— With regards to violence against women, Martinez said, “I love my mother and I want everyone to respect women. Every time I have a camera or microphone, I will always say to stop the violence.” Martinez has clearly taken this issue to heart and it is not the first time he has spoken out about the issue. Following the Edwin Valero tragedy, Martinez immediately spoke out calling for the need to treat all women with respect.

Paul Williams:

— “Exchanges aren’t [necessarily] good for me, but they are for the fans,” Williams said.

— Williams mentioned that in the first with Martinez he wasn’t prepared for all the lateral movement and the quickness. He said all the talk was “Pavlik, Pavlik, Pavlik” and he was preparing for someone to stand right in front of him. This time around, he is sparring with boxers that mirror “Maravilla’s” style.

— With regards to his weight, Williams said the losing weight and getting to 147 lbs. in the future would not be a problem. He also noted that depending on the purse size, money is the ultimate motivator if he needs to lose weight.

— A reporter asked Williams if he were to lose this fight, would a trilogy be in the works? Williams’ answer: “Most definitely.”

George Peterson, trainer of Paul Williams:

— Peterson said the he doesn’t believe Williams will ever step into the ring with either Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao, but noted that Pacquiao would be the more likely of the two fighters if a fight with Williams ever comes to fruition.

Information:

Martinez enters the fight as the WBC and Ring Magazine middleweight champion and sports a record of 45-2-2, with 24 KOs. Williams enters the rematch with a 39-1 record with 27 KOs.

Tickets for the event are priced at $400, $200, $100, and $50 and go on sale Friday, September 24. Tickets can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at Ticketmaster.com

Photos by Claudia Bocanegra

One of the most highly anticipated rematches has finally been inked as according to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Middleweight world champion Sergio Martinez will defend his crown against Paul Williams on November 20 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

“It’s nice to get it completed,” Dan Goossen, Williams’ promoter, said. “It’s not a matter of whose fault it is [that the fight took so long to make], it’s a matter that you have two of the most feared fighters in the world facing each other. It doesn’t just get made overnight. There’s a lot more to it. That’s what took time.”

Said Lou DiBella, Martinez’s promoter, “Martinez is not afraid of anybody and we did the deal that HBO wanted us to do. My take on the fight it’s the best f—— fight the rest of the year. Period. It’s the best fight for fight fans and they don’t have to fork over $60 to watch it on pay-per-view.”

The fight will be contracted at 157 pounds.

“It’s at 157 because we didn’t have a choice,” DiBella said. “Williams wanted the catch weight. There was an issue on the weight and we gave on the weight.”

When they met for the first time on Dec. 5 in the smaller arena upstairs at Boardwalk Hall, both fighters were knocked down in the first round of what turned out to be a rousing, slugfest and one of the most action-packed fights of the year. Williams won a heavily disputed majority decision in the nontitle bout.

“The fight can’t miss,” DiBella said. “You saw the first fight but I thought my guy won the first fight and I think he’ll win this one easier. I don’t think you’ll ever fight Paul Williams and have an easy fight, but I think this time he will win more clearly.”

“Sergio has just wanted to get back in the ring and wants to be treated like the middleweight champion,” DiBella said. “He knows what this fight means. He knows it’s the last time he will be bullied by anybody in a business sense. That won’t happen again if he wins. If he can beat Paul Williams after what he did to Pavlik and the damage he and Williams did to each other in the first fight, people should give him his props and he should be considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world below Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Sergio can establish himself at that level if he can perform in this fight. This is the prime of his career. This fight is everything to him.”

“Paul is very excited about the fight, so is [trainer] George [Peterson],” Goossen said. “It’s the type of fight boxing needs and wants and one that we’re looking to deliver. When everything is said and done, this is the fight everyone wants. But we never made any bones about the fact that we were looking for a welterweight fight. It wasn’t that we didn’t want a Sergio Martinez fight. We were hoping for the big fight at 147 pounds. We didn’t get it and therefore we went for the next biggest fight, and that was obviously against Sergio.

“The great thing about is it Paul will have more than three weeks to train for Martinez, which is what happened last time when Pavlik pulled out and we had to change opponents and train for a southpaw.”

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

Just last week it was rumoured that Argentinean power puncher Lucas Matthysse 27-0(25) 1 No Contest would make a quick return after his impressive first round destruction of Rogelio Castaneda Jr by taking the biggest fight of his career to date against Zab Judah on 6 November in Newark, NJ. While it is all just talk at the moment, it shows what kind of statement Matthysse 27, sent out after his recent drilling over the usually durable Castaneda. He’s from a fighting family which includes his brother Walter who fought the likes of Paul Williams & Kermit Cintron, both grew up in the small town of Trelew in the South of Argentina roughly 800 miles from where he now resides in the nations capital of Buenos Aires. Currently ranked at number 3 by the WBO, 8 by the IBF & 12 by the WBC.

Hello Lucas, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly congratulations on your win over Rogelio Castaneda Jr what can you tell us about the fight?

Lucas Matthysse – The fight was faster than I hoped, but I was trained to do 12 rounds. I am very happy.

Anson Wainwright – It looks impressive because you stopped him in one whereas normally he goes rounds with other contenders he’s fought like like Lamont Peterson, Francisco Bojado & Demetrius Hopkins to name a few. How pleased were you with the performance?

Lucas Matthysse – All of them are great boxers. I’m very pleased with my performance because I won easy to a hard opponent.

Anson Wainwright – Now that you have gotten the fight with Casteneda out of the way, what are your plans next? Who would you like to fight next?

Lucas Matthysse – I would like to fight with the big names. But I will fight anyone my manager indicates me to.

Anson Wainwright – You had fought Casteneda before but it was a Non Contest, you went back and cleaned that up with this win, do you intend to do the same with Vivian Harris? What are your thoughts on the first fight and fighting him again?

Lucas Matthysse – I don`t know, but I believe that I was going to knockout Vivian. I don’t have any problem in giving him the rematch.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team, who is your Manager, Trainer & Promoter? Also what gym do you use regularly? What other pro’s train with you?

Lucas Matthysse – My manager is Mario Arano, my trainer is Luis “Cuty” Barrera (a former South American welter champion), an my promoters are Arano Box and Golden Boy Promotion. I train in the Arano Box Gym, in Junin, Buenos Aires. Some pro’s who train with me are Carlos Ponce (former Argentine Jr Flyweight champ), Rogelio Rossi (new SA cruiser champ), sometimes Carlos Baldomir (former WBC welter champion) and others.

Anson Wainwright – Your older brother Walter was also a boxer fighting Kermit Cintron & Paul Williams, what is he doing now? Do you have any other brothers or relatives who are or were Boxers?

Lucas Matthysse – Walter is retired and he has a gym in our native city of Trelew, Chubut. My younger sister is a pro boxer and she`s good. My father (Mario) was a great boxer and my mother (Doris) also was boxer (she fought one time as an amateur). All my family involved in boxing!

Anson Wainwright – Could you tell us about your early years growing up in Trelew?

Lucas Matthysse – My childhood was hard. We were poor but we haven’t needed anything. I walked in gangs. I liked the streets and in my 11 years I fought much in gangs. My mother introduced me to go to a boxing gym.

Anson Wainwright – How did you first become interested and then involved in Boxing?

Lucas Matthysse – Like I say, my mother induced me to go a Gym and after, the boxing likes me so much. I follow the Walter’s career and years later, all the people said to me that I was very good and I was chosen for the Argentine Boxing team. I fought in a lot of cities and countries with the Argentine team. As an amateur my career was very large I fought near of 100 times

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do when your not Boxing? What are your hobbies & interests?

Lucas Matthysse – I like to be with my family. I ‘ve a four years old daughter and she’s my treasure. I also like music (Cumbia)

Anson Wainwright – Who was your hero growing up?

Lucas Matthysse – I don’t have any hero

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for the talent packed Light Welterweight division?

Lucas Matthysse – Take care at all!!! The Lucas’ time is coming !!!

Thanks for your time Lucas.

Best Wishes

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

15Rounds.com Matt Yanofsky speaks with contender Kermit Cintron surrounding his controversial defeat to Paul Williams and 2010 outlook.
click-to-listen-to-kermit-cintron

Here’s what we know. Saturday two welterweight titlists made a non-title match at junior-middleweight on HBO’s “World Championship Boxing.” In the middle of the fourth round of a fight neither was winning conclusively, the mens’ limbs tangled. One ended on the canvas. The other ended outside the ring, where a doctor said he was unfit to continue. His opponent won by technical decision.

Here’s what we can consider. A normally fine fight venue was two-thirds empty. Two normally fine fighters made three insipid rounds. The much taller fighter caused the tangle by dropping his head to waist level. The fighter outside the ring got there by leaping. A man was carted off in a neck brace while waving his arms. And, oh yes, the result.

It went: Paul Williams TD-4 Kermit Cintron. An unusual line, that. Williams won by scores of 39-37 and 40-36 on two judges’ cards and lost 36-40 on a third. I had it 39-37 for Williams. Any combination of numbers that did not have one guy winning all four rounds was acceptable. Calling a 3 1/2-round fight complete may not be.

Writing of unacceptable, though, how about the size of that crowd in Carson, Calif.? The tennis stadium at Home Depot Center is an excellent venue for a prizefight – when it’s full. But it was nothing like full Saturday. Why not?

Ethnic interests, maybe. Williams is a black Southerner. Cintron is a Puerto Rican raised in the Northeast. Carson crowds prefer Mexican prizefighters. Combining the three didn’t work at all. And the fight’s promotion was overshadowed by “Who R U Picking?” hoopla.

Set ethnicities aside. Williams enjoys significant physical advantages over opponents, but he doesn’t make dull fights. Cintron has a famously fragile psyche, but he also has a higher career knockout ratio than Mike Tyson. There was ample reason to expect an entertaining match from two prime craftsmen.

And yet Southern Californians knew better. They stayed away, and the rest of us found out why. After a month of threatening one another, Williams and Cintron met in a place of sanctioned violence and showed no such impulse for nine minutes.

When two fighters publicly state the worst of intentions for one another, they are, in many cases, quite sincere. But they rarely tear out their corners and bludgeon one another. Why not? Fear. Not a fear of pain; a fear of humiliation. Much as one might desire to render the other senseless, he desires more intensely to foil the other man’s fantasy. This is how we get tense and tentative opening stanzas even between action fighters who feel mutual animosity.

Things picked up in round 4, though. Williams increased his pace. Cintron clocked him with a counter right hand. A fight began. But unfortunately for Williams, lately that means the start of some bad habits.

Williams enjoys an extraordinary edge in height and reach with opponents. Yet he eliminates that advantage by dropping his chin to theirs and ducking punches. Men who would need to leap and turn-over shots or toss ugly overhand rights instead find Williams’ chin level with their power hands. It’s a gift to opponents who mightn’t otherwise have a chance of hitting him.

It was a gift Williams bestowed on Cintron several times and an opening he offered in round 4. Williams dropped low and fired a long left cross from his southpaw stance. It landed. Cintron, though, rolled with it and loaded a right-cross counter. Williams, whose head was actually below the plane of Cintron’s punch, ducked still lower, parried Cintron’s cross with his left shoulder and put himself in a headlock with Cintron’s right arm.

Williams continued forward, trying to punch. He also twisted leftward and down. His long legs went out from under him. Williams fell to the canvas on the seat of his trunks.

Cintron began forcefully in the opposite direction. His feet were not tangled. Perhaps he feared Williams’ long body would land on his ankle because he came to the ropes and exploded through them, pushing off his left foot. Cintron did not fall out the ring; he hit its perimeter like a safety lowering his right shoulder into a wide receiver. He somersaulted onto the scorer’s table, legs splayed. He appeared to come to rest. He raised his glove to his right temple. Then he somehow fell on the tennis court below and finished directly before the event’s promoters, Lou DiBella and Dan Goosen.

A ringside doctor rushed to Cintron. You imagine reflexivity took over from there in a precaution-rich way like this: “Are you all right?” “I hurt my back.” “It could be serious, so don’t move.” “I won’t move.” “You can’t move?” “What?” “Get a gurney!”

That brought the oddest spectacle of all. After only slightly moving his arms and legs while paramedics made their ways to ringside, Cintron got furious when they wheeled him from the ring. Once he was buckled in, Cintron began to resist, waving his arms. After the judges’ decision was read, he punched the ambulance door.

It was a poor night for boxing.

The California State Athletic Commission has a rule that states if three rounds are completed and a fighter cannot continue for some reason other than a punch, a decision must be divined from the judges’ tallies. That rule should be revisited.

Saturday’s ruling, though, should not. A bad law was enforced. Blame the legislative branch, not the executive.

Does that mean anything to either fighter? Not really. Cintron has a third loss on his record. Williams has a 39th win. No title was at stake. Nothing monumental was gained or forfeited. A rematch would be an appropriate remedy.

But that will require an outcry from fans. Based on Saturday’s attendance and the fight’s opening rounds, such out-crying fans had better bring megaphones and an amplifier.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com/bartbarry

CARSON, CALIFORNIA — After the most unusual of endings, Paul Williams was declared the technical decision victor over Kermit Cintron due to an injury before the end of four rounds in the HBO World Championship Boxing main event at the Home Depot Center.

Williams (39-1, 27 KOs) of Augusta, Georgia now has a win over Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KOs) of Houston, Texas on his record, but even he is not happy with how it got there. Both fighters got their licks in to end a round one that started out slow, as both looked to have some nervous energy. The action began to heat up in round two. Cintron, 154, caught Williams, 152 ½, with two good right hands in an exchange early in the round. Later in the round, Cintron caught Williams over swinging again with another solid counter.

Round three offered little action, as Williams refused to play into Cintron’s apparent plan of playing the counter puncher. Things changed in round four, as Cintron landed a clean right that woke up Williams and the crowd. Williams quickly responded with a head-snapping shot. For a brief moment, it looked as though the fight may turn from a boxing match to a slugfest. Shortly after a heated exchange, Williams lost his footing and grabbed onto Cintron a bit as he fell to the canvas. As Williams went down, the momentum toppled Cintron through the ropes, on to a table and eventually down to the hard floor.

In moments it was clear that Cintron was injured, but it was unclear how bad the injury might be. Cintron remained in the same position that he fell for some time, as a ringside physician watched over him. According to sources on the side of the ring that he fell, Cintron told the ringside physician Paul Wallace that he was able to fight on, but it was the decision of the doctor to not allow him to continue.

Most ringside in press row assumed the fight would be declared a no contest. However, in the state of California, the start of the fourth round makes the fight official and thus the scores were read. One judge had the fight a shutout for Cintron, 40-36. The other two scored the fight for Williams, 40-36 and 39-37 respectively. Ring announcer Michael Buffer read the scores as Cintron, protesting with his gloved fists, was carried out on a stretcher.

Not only did most ringside assume that fight would be ruled a no contest before the decision was announced, so did Cintron’s promoter. “That rule is ridiculous, it was three rounds,” said Lou DiBella. “That is not a fight. How do you call a fight after three rounds?” Cintron’s trainer Ronnie Shields told the press that he had objected to using the California rules instead of the generally used ABC rules prior to the fight.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Williams after the fight. “It’s a strange way to get a win and I’ll try to get a better one next time.” Just as there was before the fight started, there should be many options for both fighters, including the obvious one – a rematch. Cintron entered the ring as the WBO #2/IBF #3/WBC #3 ranked light middleweight, and his promoter seems to want the rematch. “That should have been a no contest, and it should happen again,” said DiBella at the post-fight press conference.

Williams, WBC #3 middleweight and the WBO #1/IBF #5 ranked 154-pounder, could go the rematch route, but there are other fights out there for him as well. Williams’ promoter Dan Goossen seemed less inclined to make a Cintron rematch right of the bat. “There was nothing that happened in that ring that was compelling enough that would lead me to believe that we want to see the fight again,” claimed Goossen. Lou DiBella vehemently disagreed with Goossen’s assessment of the potential rematch. While Goossen would go onto say Cintron is always a possibility for Williams, it looks as though he has his eyes set on bigger fish.

As he mentioned in the build-up to Saturday’s fight, Goossen made mention of plans to see if the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight is made or not. “If a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight doesn’t get made, then obviously we will be standing there and hopefully we would be one of the fighters to take that place,” said Goossen, who added Williams will not sit and wait on the shelf as talks for that superfight do or do not resume.

Styles make fights, and sometimes styles make dull fights. In what looked to be an attractive super featherweight scrap on paper and turned out to be a lackluster bout, Argenis Mendez claimed the vacant USBA Super Featherweight title with a majority decision over Martin Honorio.

Mendez (16-1, 9 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York by way of San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic proved to be an elusive target for the forward-moving Martin Honorio (28-4-1, 14 KOs) of Bell, California by way of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. Honorio, 130, took the fight to Mendez, 130, in the opening round and appeared to be ahead after two rounds.

Mendez, the WBA #10 ranked super featherweight, scored well with hard body shots in round three and the fight began to turn. As the fight went on, Mendez stood his ground less and less, picking his shots and moving out of range. Honorio, the WBO #3 ranked lightweight and IBF #6 ranked 130-pounder, did not display the same boxing skills that led him to a win over John Molina Jr. last year. Too often, Honorio found himself chasing Mendez instead of effectively cutting off the ring.

While he did not exact any sort of dominance in the bout, Mendez did enough to get the nod on two of the judges’ scorecards 116-112. The third official scorer had it even, 114-114. With the win, Mendez may have earned a better ranking, but it is unlikely he gained many fans ringside.

Former amateur standout Walter Sarnoi (6-0, 2 KOs) of Monterey Park, California boxed his way to a four-round majority decision win over Adrian Aleman (6-7-3, 4 KOs) of Cathedral City, California. Sarnoi, 123, was the naturally bigger man, but decided to box and move rather than put his size advantage to use. Aleman, 123, went rounds as usual, but was unable to get much done in the fight. One judge found two rounds to give to Aleman, to make the even score of 38-38. The other two judges scored the fight 40-36, 39-37.

Stan Martyniouk (9-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California rebounded from a flash knockdown in the first round to pull out a six-round split decision over Brian Ramirez (5-3, 3 KOs) of Los Angeles, California. Ramirez, 133, charged out of his corner to open the fight, backing Martyniouk, 133, to the ropes. As the round progressed, Martyniouk settled into a boxing rhythm. Just before the bell to end the round, Ramirez caught Martyniouk with a left uppercut to score the knockdown.

Martyniouk, who did not appear to be hurt from the knockdown, began round two with a sense of urgency, as he pressed the fight. As the fight progressed, the rounds were competitive, but it was Martyniouk that was able to maintain his punching power, while Ramirez’ pace slowed. Martyniouk took the fight after a decisive sixth round which the Sacramento resident swept on all three judges’ cards. Two judges scored the bout 57-56 for Martyniouk, with the lone dissenting judge scoring it 57-56 the other way. Martyniouk hopes to return to the ring June 19th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

Michael Ruiz Jr. (2-0, 1 KO) of Fresno, California blew away Jose Pacheco (2-13-6) of Cudahy, California in the second round of a scheduled four. Ruiz, 118, downed Pacheco, 122, with a straight right hand early in the second. Pacheco rose to his feet, but was clearly not the same. Moments later, a brutal right hook dropped Pacheco hard, prompting referee David Denkin to immediately call a halt to the bout without need for a count. Official time of the stoppage was 1:37 of the second. Ruiz is slated to return to the ring June 19th at the McDermont Field House in Lindsay, California.

Unbeaten Jeremiah Wiggins (8-0-1, 3 KOs) of Newport News, Virginia scored a unanimous decision win over game free-swinger Juan Carlos Diaz (0-3) of Ciudad Neza, Estada de Mexico, Mexico. Wiggins, 152 ½, showed his superior boxing skills in the first, but found himself slugging it out in some heated exchanges by the second round. Diaz, 153 ½, stood in and took some hard shots, but landed some of his own. The underpowered Diaz was simply out of his league with the more skilled Wiggins. In the end, two judges scored the bout 59-55 and the third 60-54 all for Wiggins.

After less than two one-sided rounds, Mike Dallas Jr. (14-0-1, 5 KOs) of Bakersfield, California was declared victorious over journeyman Daniel Gonzalez (9-28-2, 3 KOs) of Billings, Montana. Dallas, 149 ½, was just too much of everything, speed and power, for Gonzalez, 151. With no reason for the mismatch to continue, referee David Denkin saw fit to call halt to the bout at 2:03 of the second round before Gonzalez could absorb any more punishment.

Before the card, Goossen Tutor Promotions announced the signing of WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Beibut Shumenov, who is slated to defend his title sometime in July against mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Uzelkov.

Photos by Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — Top ten pound-for-pounder Paul Williams takes on perennial contender Kermit Cintron in a non-title twelve-round light middleweight fight tonight at the Home Depot Center in nearby Carson. The fight will be broadcast live by HBO alongside the replay of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley fight from last week. Fighters for tonight’s event weighed in Friday afternoon at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Los Angeles – International Airport.

Williams (38-1, 27 KOs) of Augusta, Georgia is the heavy betting favorite Saturday according to most online sportsbooks, but the odds that the fight will be exciting would have to be listed just as strong. Cintron (32-2-1, 28 KOs) of Houston, Texas by way of Carolina, Puerto Rico may have displayed new found boxing skills in his decision win over Alfredo Angulo last year, but he knows he will need to revert back to the slugger of old in order to have a chance against a supreme boxer-puncher like Williams.

The event has been dubbed “Over the Weight,” because both Williams and Cintron have long campaigned as welterweights, and Williams especially has expressed his desire to get a big money fight at 147-pounds. Williams currently holds the WBC #3 middleweight ranking, and the WBO #1/IBF #5 rankings at 154-pounds. Considering Cintron is currently the WBO #2/IBF #3/WBC #3 ranked light middleweight, one would think this fight would have some interim title or alphabet eliminator sanctioning attached to it, but alas it is just a twelve-round scrub between two top fighters with no promises of championships to the winner.

Both Cintron and Williams know that winning eliminators or even titles are not always what they are cracked up to be. Cintron’s win over Angulo was a sanctioned WBC Light Middleweight eliminator, but he did not get a title shot since Sergio Martinez has been tied up with middleweight fights. Meanwhile, Angulo claimed the Interim WBO 154-title over Harry Joe Yorgey. Williams has held titles at welterweight and light middleweight, but his handlers have never been overrun with offers from top notch fighters.

In any event, the winner of Saturday’s fight should be in line for the big money fight they have desired. For Cintron, the upset would be by far the biggest win of his career and catapult himself into the upper echelon of the sport. For Williams, he must win impressively in order to have any bargaining power as he chases the money men of the welterweight division. Williams scaled 152 ½-pounds, while Cintron came in at the division limit of 154.

The off-television undercard is headed by an attractive and meaningful twelve-rounder. Resurgent contender Martin Honorio (28-4-1, 14 KOs) of Bell, California by way of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico will take on 2004 Dominican Olympian Argenis Mendez (15-1, 9 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York by way of San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic for the vacant USBA Super Featherweight title.

Honorio, the WBO #3 ranked lightweight and IBF #6 ranked 130-pounder, leaped back onto the national stage with an upset decision win over previously unbeaten prospect John Molina Jr. last November. Mendez, the WBA #10 ranked super featherweight, has revitalized his career since suffering his only defeat in October 2008, posting three consecutive victories. The winner would likely be in line for a world title or world title elimination bout. Honorio and Mendez both scaled 130-pounds.

In a six-round lightweight bout, Stan Martyniouk (8-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California will meet Brian Ramirez (5-2, 3 KOs) of Los Angeles, California. Martyniouk, who came in at 133-pounds, has not seen ring action since posting a four-round decision over Anthony Martinez in November. Ramirez, who weighed in at 133 as well, suffered his second defeat last time out after a point deduction cost him a draw.

Unbeaten light middleweight Jeremiah Wiggins (7-0-1, 3 KOs) of Newport News, Virginia will make his West Coast debut against Juan Carlos Diaz (0-2) of Ciudad Neza, Estada de Mexico, Mexico in a six-rounder. Wiggins, who scaled 152 ½, was a chiseled and imposing figure at the scales Friday. Diaz, who sports a far more slender build, weighed in at 153 ½-pounds. Diaz’ two defeats were by knockout to undefeated foes. Wiggins last fought on the Paul Williams-Sergio Martinez undercard in December, scoring a unanimous decision over Manuel Guzman in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Well regarded bantamweight prospect Michael Ruiz Jr. (1-0) of Fresno, California will take on game trial horse Jose Pacheco (2-12-6) of Cudahy, California in a four-round bout. Ruiz, who weighed in at 118-pounds, turned pro last month with a comprehensive decision victory after a distinguished amateur run. Pacheco, who weighed in at 122-pounds on his initial try, fought on the same card last month and dropped a four-round decision. Pacheco was given more time to lose an additional pound.

Former amateur standout Walter Sarnoi (5-0, 2 KOs) of Monterey Park, California will tangle with the naturally smaller Adrian Aleman (6-6-3, 4 KOs) of Cathedral City, California in a four-round super bantamweight fight. Sarnoi, who scaled 123-pounds Friday afternoon, was a member of the U.S. National Team as an amateur before turning professional in 2008. Aleman scaled 123-pounds at the weigh-in, but has fought as a flyweight earlier in his career. Should Aleman, who has never been stopped, be able to handle Sarnoi’s power, he could provide a test for the young pro.

Light welterweight prospect Mike Dallas Jr. (13-0-1, 4 KOs) of Bakersfield, California was a late re-addition to the card and will now open the evening in a four-rounder against well traveled journeyman Daniel Gonzalez (9-27-2, 3 KOs) of Billings, Montana. Given the short notice these fighters will be fighting nearly as junior middleweights today. Gonzalez, weighing in at 151-pounds, is coming in off of twelve straight defeats, but with only two of those coming by way of the knockout. Dallas, who had been penciled in for a step-up fight against Josesito Lopez, scaled 149 ½-pounds Friday.

A last minute scratch from the card was an interesting ten-round heavyweight rematch between Jason Gavern (19-7-3, 8 KOs) of Kissimmee, Florida and Manuel Quezada (29-5, 18 KOs) of Wasco, California. Gavern scored a minor upset over the world ranked Quezada last month, claiming the regional WBC CABOFE Heavyweight title with the decision victory. According to Gavern, who was present at the weigh-in, Quezada pulled out just an hour prior.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Light middleweights, 12 Rounds
Williams 152 ½
Cintron 154

USBA Super Featherweight Championship, 12 Rounds
Honorio 130
Mendez 130

Lightweights, 6 Rounds
Martyniouk 133
Ramirez 133

Light middleweights, 6 Rounds
Wiggins 152 ½
Diaz 153 ½

Super bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Ruiz Jr. 118
Pacheco 122*

Super bantamweights, 4 Rounds
Sarnoi 123
Aleman 123

Light Middleweights, 4 Rounds
Dallas Jr. 149 ½
Gonzalez 151

*attempting to lose one pound at press time

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

Last Saturday, two fighters presumed to be among the top three welterweights in the world squared off before millions of viewers on pay-per-view. Of course, Floyd Mayweather Jr. completely outboxed an older version of former pound-for-pound kingpin Shane Mosley in a fight that left many at home wanting. This Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, Paul Williams will again be auditioning for an opportunity against one of the top two welterweights as he takes on Kermit Cintron. Their fight will be televised live by HBO and be paired coincidentally with the rebroadcast of the Mayweather-Mosley fight.

Williams (38-1, 27 KOs) of Augusta, Georgia will not be fighting at the 147-pound welterweight limit Saturday, but instead in the junior middleweight division. But if you ask Williams if he can still make 147, it won’t be the first time he has heard the query. “I’ve been asked the same questions so many times about fighting in different weight classes that my answers are almost like turning on a recorder and pressing play, but only with my mouth moving,” said Williams Wednesday at a press conference. “But, make no mistake; I don’t mind getting the attention and all the questions. I am confident and comfortable fighting in different weight classes and I will continue to do so for as long as I can and it is feasible.”

Williams has not made 147-pounds since avenging his sole defeat in June of 2008, a first-round stoppage over Carlos Quintana to reclaim the WBO title. In his four fights since, Williams has bested Verno Phillips to claim an interim 154-pound title and fought at middleweight in the three others. The idea of fighting in different weight classes in order to chase the big fights came from the Williams brain trust.

“Originally we came to the understanding that at the welterweight division, which is his natural division, it was becoming harder and harder to find takers for him out there, mainly because of the size discrepancy,” said Williams’ promoter Dan Goossen, referring to himself, Williams advisor Al Haymon and trainer George Peterson.

“But it is not Paul’s fault that he is 6’2” with a longer reach than the Klitschkos. We all came to the solution that the best way to keep his career progressing was by fighting in different weight divisions. But what has never left us was to crack that superstardom. And the way to do it is to make the superfight. The fight we would like to make, with a win Saturday night, is the [Manny] Pacquiao, is the Mayweather [fight]. The [other] top welterweights have gone by the wayside, the Cottos and the Margaritos. So there are three welterweights out there in my opinion that are the top guys today and they should all be mentioned in the same breath, and that is Pacquiao, Mayweather and Williams.”

Maybe it is because the boxing pundits did not understand their plan, but rarely do you hear Paul Williams name pop up as a potential opponent for either Mayweather or Pacquiao. Case in point, at the end of last Saturday’s pay-per-view broadcast. When HBO commentator Jim Lampley asked the rest of the broadcast team who they would like to see in with Mayweather, should the blockbuster with Pacquiao not come to fruition, neither could come up with a definitive reply. Especially considering the fact that Williams would be appearing on their network just seven days later, one would think Williams would be the name that came to their mind. However, this oversight is nothing new in the world Paul Williams lives.

“Every time a fight is mentioned, nobody even mentions my name,” says Williams frustratingly. “They know I am a threat, but most of them don’t want to put me in that category with them guys. So they mention me like real easy and don’t say too much. I’ll let Mr. Peterson, Al and Dan deal with it.”

If those who overlook Williams as a threat to the welterweight elite due so because they doubt his ability to still make 147-pounds, Williams’ trainer George Peterson has their answer. “[The critics] make decisions for people, when they should let the fighters make their own decision,” says Peterson. “Paul is saying, ‘Give me a 147-pounder, and let me show you I can make the 147-pound [weight limit]. And if you are that much in doubt, watch me eat breakfast before the weigh-in.’”

While Goossen mentions both Pacquiao and Mayweather as the fighters that he targets for Williams, it seems farfetched to think that the “Pacman’s” promoter Bob Arum would let his moneymaker in the same building as the 6’2” man known as the “Punisher.” Reportedly Pacquiao’s handlers rejected a fight with 5’11 junior middleweight Yuri Foreman based mainly on his height.

If Pacquiao is out of the question, Mayweather would seem the logical target for Team Williams, which makes Saturday’s fight of the utmost importance. With the Williams-Cintron bout being aired alongside the replay of last Saturday’s fight, everyone will be drawing their comparisons between the two. Many fighters in Williams’ position would feel the pressure of competing against a high-caliber fighter such as Kermit Cintron, knowing many watching will be measuring his performance against Mayweather’s. Williams however is not most fighters. “My main thing is to keep winning and the doors will open up.”

Photo by Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

Wednesday brought some good news about Kelly Pavlik. All is ready but the contracts for Pavlik to defend his middleweight championship in April against Sergio Martinez. It isn’t the rematch we wanted for Martinez after his fantastic fight with Paul Williams two months ago, but it’s better than any match we’ve seen Pavlik make since Bernard Hopkins in 2008.

It’s also an occasion for examining personal bias, something I’ve wanted to do for a while. The last three years in the boxing gym – privy to arguments between numerous ethnicities and nationalities – have seen me play a role like neutral solon. When a Filipino and a Mexican argue about who won Pacquiao-Marquez II, I’m the tiebreaker, in other words, chastening both for ethnic bias.

But observing’s not as much fun as participating. That’s why I promised the next time a prizefighter who looked like me and came from my country was in a major fight, I’d do an examination of conscience – as the Xaverian brothers at St. John’s High School used to put it.

Kelly Pavlik meets those criteria. What follows, then, is a good-faith effort to better understand why we cheer the fighters we cheer, and where to draw a sensible line for cheering against others.

Folks who put on gloves and headgear tend to cheer fighters according to this hierarchy: 1. Race, 2. Fighting style, 3. Nationality, 4. Personality. This is supposed to be the post-racial world of 2010, I know, so if it makes things more palatable, go ahead and attribute our fixation on race to the forum in which it appears: We routinely get punched in the head.

As a white man in a country led by a black man, I’m now able to enjoy some newfound liberty. I think cheering for someone because he shares your race does not make you a racist. Cheering against someone because he does not share your race, though, may be something you shouldn’t do.

In an important essay about the need for affirmative action, written 23 years ago and subtitled “Reckoning with Unconscious Racism,” Professor Charles Lawrence made a thought-provoking case that anticipated a day when all racism was unconscious. Those of you who’ve suffered through some form of corporate diversity training are surely rolling your eyes right now, saying, “‘Unconscious racism’! Where does it end?”

Point taken. But consider: When the CEO of a Fortune 500 company acts ethically in the task of choosing his replacement, what qualities does he look for? After all, he’s done a fine job for the shareholders, and it’s his professional obligation to find someone who’ll do the same.

Acting in the best interests of his employer, then, he’ll select someone who reminds him of himself. That’s why there aren’t many latina women leading Fortune 500 companies. They’re not all less-qualified. Their predecessors aren’t racists. And yet the boardroom remains monochrome.

Two points, there, pertaining to prizefighting. First, we don’t need to be racists to cheer guys who remind us of ourselves. Second, we do need to be conscious of this predisposition before having our shoulders measured for that cloak of objectivity. That’s true for all sports fans, of course, but boxing, for all the criticism we accept, has always treated ethnic bias more openly than our peers; we expect more honesty from ourselves as fans.

Kelly Pavlik is white like me. He fights in the simple way – jab, hook, cross – that appeals to someone with my slower reflexes. He’s an American. He never belittles an opponent.

That role of the neutral solon I play in the gym? It partially reduces to my people not having a very impressive run in boxing these last 25 years.

That’s also the reason I feel an initial spark of interest about Pavlik that I don’t feel when I hear about Sergio Martinez or Paul Williams. After I think about Martinez or Williams matching up against Pavlik, I might well favor them or even cheer them against Pavlik. But that happens afterwards, and consciously.

What fearlessness I have in wandering about this minefield of bad faith and ruined reputation comes courtesy of Shannon Briggs. Before his 2006 fight with Sergei Liakhovich in Phoenix, Briggs called himself the “Great Black Hope” – in contrast to all the Eurasian heavyweight champions at the time. Intoxicated by a chance to represent his people, Briggs also made allegations of racism at the Liakhovich camp.

How much did this bother a Belarusian making a first title defense in his adopted hometown? In the post-fight press conference, after he’d lost his WBO belt in the fight’s final second, Liakhovich brought it up almost immediately. He turned to Briggs and said, in broken English, he wanted everyone to know he’d never said anything derogatory about black Americans.

Briggs said, “I know.” Then he explained it was just a ruse to sell the fight and get in Liakhovich’s head. Don King cackled away. Liakhovich looked more relieved than offended. And I promised myself I’d never be called a racist and take it seriously again.

Still, voluntary examinations of conscience can’t hurt, especially when I cheer against people.

I cheered against Fernando Vargas when he fought Oscar De La Hoya, but obviously not because he was latino. I’ll cheer against Floyd Mayweather when he fights Shane Mosley, but obviously not because he’s black. I’ll cheer against Wladimir Klitschko when he fights Eddie Chambers, though I can’t imagine it’s because he’s white.

I don’t like the personalities of Vargas or Mayweather, or the fighting style of Klitschko.

I’ll cheer for whomever I wish, then, for whatever reason – and that will probably mean Kelly Pavlik. But when I cheer against someone, I’ll do my best to ensure it’s not for ethnic reasons. I think that’s about as much as we can ask of ourselves.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com/bartbarry

Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank