Sergio Martinez is ESPN's Fighter Of The Year

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.

After a brutal negotiation to get Williams back in the ring, because his team clearly did not want the fight (and basically was forced by HBO to take it), he and Martinez met again on Nov. 20 in a match pitting two of the top five fighters in the world. The rematch began like their first encounter had ended -- with them trading shots at a fast pace. After a blazing opening round, it looked like fight No. 2 was going to be simply a continuation of fight No. 1.

Martinez had been landing his left hand from the outset, part of Sarmiento's plan, but when Williams left his right hand a bit too low in the second round, Martinez came over the top, connected on his jaw and obliterated him for a spectacular knockout.

Even more than the championship victory against Pavlik, the knockout of Williams was the culmination of Martinez's surprising march to the top of boxing. Just a couple of years earlier, no promoter wanted Martinez, an obscure pro who had played soccer and been a cyclist before turning to boxing. He didn't turn pro until he was 22 and fought mainly in Argentina before later fighting on the European circuit in Spain and England.

But in 2007, he hooked up with adviser Sampson Lewkowicz, the man who brought Manny Pacquiao to the United States in 2001. Lewkowicz was a friend of Martinez's manager, Ricardo Sanchez Atocha, and, like with Pacquiao, he believed in Martinez's talent and set out to find him an American promoter.

Lewkowicz sent fight DVDs to various promoters without any takers except for Lou DiBella, who was blown away by the talent he saw and signed Martinez at the end of 2007.

"I always believed I had a pretty good eye for talent," DiBella said before the Williams rematch. "When Sampson sent this DVD around I looked at it and I didn't know anything about him, and I was like, 'Oh my God, where did this guy come from?' He wasn't fighting King Kong, but he was fighting top European talent and he was playing with these guys. And I also saw speed and power. I was blown away. And I have always had a lot of faith in Sampson's eye.

"I was like, 'How is this guy not already a world champion?' And then I met him and he looks like a movie star and is the most humble guy you could ever meet. I felt that he was special and he had unusual gifts. The looks, the charm, but also a combination of power and speed. I thought it was like Christmas morning when I looked at the DVD."

Right after Martinez had starched Williams, DiBella was even more effusive in his praise.

"Martinez will have a problem making fights because that's how f------ good he is," DiBella said. "I know what I got. I got the best fighter in the world."

You know what else DiBella has? The fighter of the year.

Previous winners
2010 Sergio Martinez
2009 Manny Pacquiao
2008 Manny Pacquiao
2007 Floyd Mayweather Jr.
2006 Manny Pacquiao
2005 Ricky Hatton
2004 Glen Johnson
2003 James Toney
2002 Vernon Forrest
2001 Bernard Hopkins
2000 Felix Trinidad

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=5955508

Has Ring magazine announced theres yet?

Diego408 wrote:Has Ring magazine announced theres yet?

I don't think so.

he deserved it

My vote goes to Soonermark for dealing with those crazy SOB,s at Ninja.

Frank wrote:My vote goes to Soonermark for dealing with those crazy SOB,s at Ninja.

LMAO

Martinez definitely deserved this award! I'm happy for him! Martinez vs Bute, make the effin fight! LOL!

He's not the only possible choice, but he's a deserving winner.