Photo Naoki Fukuda: By Dave Lahr: Last night, we saw pure brilliance from World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KO’s) successfully defended his title with a 2nd round KO of Paul Williams (39-2, 27 KO’s) in front of a packed Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City New Jersey. Martinez turned what was supposed to have been a closely contested fight into a wipeout when he brained Williams with a tremendous left hand that left Williams old cold and face down on the canvas in the 2nd round.

The win cemented Martinez’s claim to be the best in the middleweight division. Martinez has only been fighting at middleweight since April, when he defeated WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik by a 12 round decision.

At the time of Martinez’s victory, Pavlik was considered to be the best in the middleweight division. Before that fight, Martinez was already considered to be the top dog in the junior middleweight division, where he held the WBC title. After beating Pavlik, Martinez was forced to decide whether to keep the junior middleweight or the middleweight straps. Martinez opted to hold onto the middleweight titles. However, he’s still quite capable of moving back down to junior middleweight to fight someone like WBC junior middleweight champion Manny Pacquiao.

Recently, Pacquiao defeated Antonio Margarito to capture the vacant World Boxing Council junior middleweight belt. Margarito, a welterweight for pretty much his entire career, had only fought once at junior middleweight in the past six years at the time that Pacquiao fought him. Margarito, a Top Rank fighter like Pacquiao, was positioned to fight Pacquiao for the vacant WBC title when their mutual promoter decided to get Margarito ranked in that division by putting him in with fringe junior middleweight contender Roberto Garcia, who Margarito defeated by a 10 round decision in May. Margarito was then put at number #1 by the WBC for some reason, and Pacquiao then fought him for the title.

But now that Pacquiao is the champion, he should be able to fight Sergio Martinez using one of his catch weights to give him a handicap. I don’t see why 150 pounds shouldn’t be a good catch weight for a bout between Pacquiao and Martinez. If it’s good enough for a bout against Margarito, then it should be more than good enough for a fight against Martinez, right? Or does Arum not want to put Pacquiao in with Martinez? Pacquiao will probably be put in with Shane Mosley next, and Martinez will be avoided like the plague. Unlike Margarito, Martinez isn’t struggling and hasn’t been beaten recently.

Martinez is fighting well and looking sensational. For that reason, I don’t see Pacquiao being matched against Martinez. A lot of Pacquiao’s recent opponents have taken losses or serious beat downs right before he fought them. Martinez isn’t struggling, so I don’t see him getting selected to fight Pacquiao. Margarito had been beaten just last year by Mosley, and looked horrible in his win over fringe contender Roberto Garcia this year.

Other Pacquiao opponents like Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya and Joshua Clottey had either been beaten recently or were showing serious signs of decline at the time that he fought them. But Sergio Martinez is fighting really well at this time. I think Pacquiao will be put in with Mosley, who fighting well at this time. Mosley was beaten badly by Floyd Mayweather Jr. earlier this year in May, and recently Mosley fought to a controversial 12 round draw with Sergio Mora in September. Mosley is clearly struggling and more than a few boxing fans think he’s shot. I think it’s safe to say that Mosley will get the fight with Pacquiao and not Martinez. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll be right about this.