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During the jubilant celebration inside the ring after
Sergio Martinez knocked
Paul Williams into another dimension, trainer Gabriel Sarmiento placed a gold-colored crown on his pupil's head.
One of the members of Martinez's team had bought the prop more or less as a gag, but it was certainly a fitting symbol for what Martinez had done, not only on that November night at
Boardwalk Hall in
Atlantic City, N.J., but during a year in which he blazed his way to becoming king of the
middleweight division and earning his place among the top fighters in the world, pound for pound.
Martinez -- known as "Maravilla" -- won the middleweight championship by slicing up
Kelly Pavlik to win a clear decision and drilled Williams in their much-anticipated rematch to cement his status as the 2010 ESPN.com fighter of the year.
Martinez, 35, had ended 2009 by going toe-to-toe with Williams in a sensational, all-action fight, but he lost a disputed
majority decision. While a rematch was what
boxing fans and media asked for, their promoters wanted them go to their separate ways for at least one fight until the inevitable sequel would take place.
When a fight between Williams and Pavlik could not be made -- yet again -- Martinez, who held a junior middleweight title, happily accepted the opportunity to challenge for the middleweight championship. That title means a lot in Martinez's home country of
Argentina, which produced
Carlos Monzon, one of the greatest middleweight champions in history and Martinez's boxing idol.
Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KOs) and Pavlik met April 17 at Boardwalk Hall and it was clear from the outset that even though Pavlik was the bigger man, it was going to be a tough fight. Martinez easily won the opening rounds with his superior boxing ability. But after Pavlik came on strong in the middle rounds, including scoring a seventh-round knockdown, Martinez turned it up a notch. He dominated down the stretch, opening a bad cut over Pavlik's right eye in the ninth round and sweeping the rest of the fight to claim the title in an outstanding performance.
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