SEAN ROMAN - ON BOXING

On an unseasonably warm November night this past Saturday in Atlantic City, Sergio Martinez scored a devastating knock out of Paul Williams in their middleweight rematch.

The end came in the second round with a crushing left hook to the jaw that stunned Williams as if he had been shocked with a taser.

As William's weight took him forward, he toppled to the canvas like a statue knocked off its block. I almost expected The Punisher to crumble into small pieces on impact.

As soon as Williams started going down, I realized the referee could have stopped the fight and called in the medical team.

This was not the result anyone expected after their competitive Fight of the Year Candidate in 2009, which WIlliams won by decision.

It was 7 seconds into the count that the referee waived his arms and Williams received the medical attention he needed.

As Williams lay motionless, Martinez was on someone's shoulders being paraded around like a silly crown, while compelling the crowd to shout "Argentina, Argentina." However, most of the fans were there to cheer on Williams.

While it was a great result for Martinez, his joy was not easy to share in the moments when you did not know how seriously Williams was hurt.

The punch that ended the fight was a true Knockout.

It was not a situation where a competitor could not continue and it was not a situation where a fighter couldn't beat the count. It was so fierce that Williams just may have had "the fight" knocked out of him in Atlantic City.

This was the first time William suffered any sort of stoppage.

It will surely have Williams' questioning his ability to be part of this brutal sport.

Martinez retained his WBC middleweight title and would like a shot and the financial reward of facing the smaller sensations of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.

However, Martinez would likely have to fight two weight divisions down to make a Pacquiao fight worth considering.

Nothing Mayweather saw from Martinez is likely to scare him, and Mayweather just may opt to face Martinez instead of Pacquiao, who will not submit to the drug testing Mayweather demands.

The fight was promoted by Lou DiBella, who said of the knockout blow, "that punch would have knocked out anyone on Earth."

Terence Winter, the creator of Boardwalk Empire, the HBO series that pays tribute to Atlantic City in the Prohibition Era, was present at the fight. Winky Wright, Burt Sugar, and Kermit Citron, were also on hand.