Boxing: Sergio Martinez vs. Paul Williams, Saturday night, Atlantic City, NJ

A little more pugilism:  My favorite boxing maven and I took a quick trip to Atlantic City for the Sergio Martinez-Paul Williams middleweight title fight on Saturday, November 20.  The fight itself also turned out to be quick--less than two rounds--but no less memorable for its brevity (a good account can be found here).  These are a few images from my camera--with pertinent comments, of course.

Much of the landscape between New York City and Atlantic City can be desolate and depressing--but also, especially around sunset, strangely evocative, beautiful even.  Here's a bit of train-window art, with what I believe is Philadelphia looming in the background.

On the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, one of my brothers keeps a wary eye on the proceedings.

The boxing match was held at A.C.'s historic Boardwalk Hall, once known as Convention Hall--famous for, among other things, being the longtime home of the Miss America pageant.  The inscription along the top of the facade reads:  "A permanent monument, conceived as a tribute to the ideals of Atlantic City, built by its citizens and dedicated to recreation, social progress and industrial achievements."  That's who we were in 1929, when the Hall was built.

At the time of its opening, Boardwalk Hall boasted the largest clear span space in the world--and, with its vaulted, glowing aquamarine ceiling and wealth of Art-Deco detail, the interior is still gasp-worthy.

Martinez (black trunks) and Williams (Martian trunks) wasted little time...

...before beginning to mix it up, spending the first round in aggressive combat.

But about a minute into the second round, Martinez saw an opening and took it, landing a short, perfect left to Williams' jaw that ended all debate.  Here, Martinez can be seen doing a victory lap around the ring as a spectator leaps to his feet.

A prone Williams appears to be trying to get up, but he's not quite ready.  Meanwhile, Martinez seems to be taking a certain satisfaction in having won.

Williams is represented here only by two legs sticking out from the scrum of people tending to him.

At this point, Martinez has donned a King Vitamin hat and is being  paraded around the ring, while Williams is being asked if he knows what day it is.

On the way out, we noticed this on the lobby ceiling.  According to the Boardwalk Hall website, it's a work of stained glass called the Atlantic Globe, and "depicts fish indigenous to our waters, a mermaid and a young girl costumed in an art deco-styled bathing costume."  Whew--I thought for a moment it might be where they put the losing Miss America contestants.

This woman was dancing to Elvis on the Boardwalk as we left.