ATLANTIC CITY - Sergio Martinez thought he got robbed of a decision the last time that he fought Paul Williams. He left no room for the judges' interpretations of his performance against Williams in the rematch, scoring a devastating KO victory at 1:10 of the second round to retain his WBC middleweight title before a sparse crowd of 5,502 at Boardwalk Hall Saturday night.

When they met last Dec. 5, Williams (39-2, 27 KOs) won a 12-round majority decision in a back-and-forth battle that was considered "Fight of the Year." Martinez didn't allow it to go that far this time and landed what will probably be a candidate for "Knockout of the Year."

It was a concussive conclusion to a highly anticipated match between two of the world's best middleweights.

Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KOs) served notice that he was a world class-caliber boxer when he beat up Kelly Pavlik to take the middleweight title in April. The way Martinez, a 35-year-old Argentine who idolizes Carlos Monzon, KO'd Williams, he took another giant step forward and joined the elite in boxing.

"We prepared for this. We worked really hard," Martinez said. "I started to attack (in the second round). We knew he was going to make a mistake, because he always makes mistakes. He left me a lot of room to come in and I came in."

He blew Williams' doors off when he came in. There was no feeling-out process as Martinez and Williams picked up where they left off in the first fight, trading leathers like they were baseball cards. It didn't look like it was going to last long - not with the fury and the pace that they were throwing punches. Each man was landing heavy, thudding shots, but never was taking a step backwards in the first round.

It ended as sudden and as violent as a flash of lightning felling a tall oak, with Martinez landing a devastating left hook that caught a flailing Williams right on the jaw as he was coming in. Williams fell straight forward, face-first, to the canvas and lay motionless with his eyes wide open. Williams was out cold before he hit the canvas. There was no need for referee Earl Morton to count. It was all over.

Martinez ran straight for the neutral corner and leaped on the second rope and motioned to the crowd. Williams was still on the canvas being attended to by the ring doctors when Martinez was having a golden crown placed on his head by his handlers.

"I just got caught with a punch," Williams said. "I knew it was going to be a tough fight."

Promoter Lou DiBella had the champion, Martinez, but was feeling dissed at every turn. Right before the fighters stepped into the ring, Martinez was moved from the red corner, which had been reserved for the favorites all night, to the blue corner. Then Martinez was announced first, which customarily is reserved for the challengers. "It's bull ...," DiBella screamed before the fight. "But if Williams ends up on his back, it won't make a difference."

He was right. It didn't make a difference in the end. Martinez didn't let it.

Martinez said he was surprised that the knockout happened so soon. "I didn't want the judges to rob me this time," Martinez said.

Martinez, who earned $1.05 million, is already charting his future, which will include a significant raise in pay. "I plan to have two or three more fights before I retire," he said. "I would like for one of them to be against (Manny) Pacquiao or (FloydZ) Mayweather."

After what he did against Williams, there's a fat chance of that happening. Martinez might find it hard to get anyone to step in the ring against him now.