Martinez has everything to gain from this fight

With only two teams able to qualify from each group, at least one big footballing nation will fall before the last 16. If England finishes second in their group, they will play the winner of Group D. They have never played Algeria before in any format, but they are ranked 28 in the world and feature players such as Portsmouth's Nadir Belhadj and Lazio midfielder Mourad Meghni. Sloveniawho reached the finals after beating Russia in a playofflost to England in their only ever meeting at Wembley in September. Should both England and Argentina win their groups, they would not meet until the final. England will play their first match against the USA on Saturday, June 12, in Rustenburg at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.Two days ago, I predicted that qualifying would be smooth sailing if England avoided Portugal and France.With the USA posing the only real threat to winning the group, England are all but assured of a spot in the last 16 where they will likely face Australia.This draw could not have worked out much better for England who will now go into the tournament with high hopes and the weight of an expectant nation on their shoulders. Group ASouth AfricaMexicoUruguayFrance Group BArgentinaSouth KoreaNigeriaGreece Group CEnglandUSAAlgeriaSlovenia Group DGermanyAustraliaGhanaSerbia Group ENetherlandsJapanCameroonDenmark Group FItalyNew ZealandParaguaySlovakia Group GBrazilNorth KoreaIvory CoastPortugal Group HSpainHondurasChileSwitzerland. CHICAGO, IL, Jan 07 (MARKET WIRE) Spectrem Group () announced today that its SpectremMillionaire Investor Index (SMII)(R) rose 16 points in December to -23,its largest advance ever.This gain, the biggest since the index's inception in February 2004,follows a record low of -39 in November 2008 and returns the index tomildly bearish territory.

Prior to this advance, the millionaire index'slargest gain was 13 points in November 2005.(Note: For more detail on millionaires and the current crisis, seeSpectrem's new report "Attitudes of Affluent Investors on Surviving theEconomic Crisis," released Tuesday.)The Spectrem Affluent Investor Index (SAII)(R), which measures theinvestment outlook of households with $500,000 or more in investableassets, rose 8 points, also from its all-time low, to -31 in December. Itremained bearish."Millionaires and the affluent ended a dismal year on a relativelypositive note, posting solid improvements in their investment outlookfrom record lows. Nonetheless, with both groups far more pessimistic thana year ago and the economy still ranking as their No. 1 concern, the NewYear appears off to a shaky start for the wealthiest Americans," saidGeorge H. Walper, Jr., President of Spectrem Group.In response to an open-ended question about the most serious threat toachieving their financial goals, affluent investors in December cited: theeconomy: (28); market conditions (19); unemployment (15); the politicalclimate (8); health-related issues (3) and housing and real estate (1).Those choosing the economy fell from 38 in September 2008, the last timethis question was asked.Millionaires expressed more concern about the economy (30) than theaffluent but less about market conditions (16).Historical PerformanceJulyAugustSeptember October November December- - Spectrem Affluent Investor Index(R) -17 -13-22-30-39-31- - Spectrem Millionaire Investor Index(R)-8-9-18-24-39-23- - MethodologyThe Spectrem Affluent Investor Index(R) is based on 250monthly interviews with the financial decision-makers in households with$500,000 or more in investable assets. The data have a margin of error ofplus or minus 6.2 percentage points.

The Spectrem Millionaire InvestorIndex(R) is based on a subset of the overall survey group.Contact:Sharon Bially(774) Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.-0-. HBO’s World Championship Boxing is scheduled to televise a solid doubleheader this weekend.In the main event, former two-time welterweight champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams will fight WBC Super Welterweight champion Sergio Gabriel Martinez in a nontitle middleweight bout Saturday at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom in Atlantic City, N.J.Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) was originally slated to fight Kelly Pavlik on the identical date.However, the matchup was canceled because Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) has not healed from two surgeries he was forced to undergo to treat a stubborn staph infection in his left hand.Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs), a physical specimen who is widely considered one of the top junior middleweights in the world, will prove to be a very difficult opponent for Williams, 28.Williams' promoter, Dan Goosen, told ESPN that he fully understands that Martinez, 34, will be a very worthy adversary for his fighter."It's a tough fight against what many would consider an unknown champion, but Martinez can't be underestimated," Goosen said of the Argentinean southpaw. "He's hungry and he's been looking for his opportunity to fight a name fighter This is it. Martinez has everything to gain from this fight."Goosen acknowledged that it will be a difficult task for Williams to prepare for a fighter of Martinez's caliber on such brief notice."These are the types of fights that are the tough ones, a fight made off the cuff because of the circumstances we were faced with Pavlik pulling out on short notice," said Goosen. "Normally, you'd rather have a much bigger window to prepare for a tricky left-hander like Martinez."Despite the fact that Martinez is a junior middleweight titlist, the two sides agreed to fight over the 154-pound division limit."Paul was training to be a middleweight, not a junior middleweight," Goosen said. "It would not be in the best interest to come down to 154 now on short notice.

So I think it's reasonable to keep him in the division he was looking to fight in."Martinez is a powerful man and his southpaw stance will counterbalance the advantages that Williams has historically experienced himself as a lefty in the ring.Nevertheless, Williams is a cagey fighter and he is a true master at the craft of pugilism.Williams has long been referred to as the most "avoided fighter in the world" primarily because he is lanky and, at 6'2", he is extremely tall for a welterweight.Martinez will not avoid Williams and he will come prepared to wage war with the native of South Carolina.Still, expect Williams to emerge with a narrow majority decision victory over Martinez tomorrow night in the Garden State.On the undercard, Mexican-American Chris “Nightmare” Arreola (27-1, 24 KOs) will face Brian “The Beast” Minto (34-2, 21 KOs) in a heavyweight battle.Arreola, 28, a fighter currently ranked in the top ten by all four major governing bodies, lost by a 10thround TKO in September to WBC world heavyweight champion Vitali “Dr. ( http://), the leading provider ofunified email security, archiving and data loss prevention solutions,today announced it has appointed Wade Chambers as VP of Engineering andJay Kane as VP of North American Sales. Chambers will lead Proofpoint'sproduct development strategy and work directly with customers on aligningfeatures and functionality to meet their needs. Kane will direct thecompany's North American sales efforts, working closely with thecompany's channel partners to further extend Proofpoint's domestic marketreach."Wade brings deep technical domain expertise as well as a successful trackrecord of delivering technology innovations and business growth fororganizations ranging from pre-IPO to Fortune 100 corporations.Additionally, Jay's experience in signing top-tier customers and leadingsuccessful domestic and international sales teams will be key toProofpoint's continued growth," said Gary Steele, CEO of Proofpoint. "I look forward to working with the Proofpoint team as wellas our customers to help define the product strategies and implement thekey features and functionality in future product rollouts.""I'm excited for the challenges of leading a complex sales team andexecuting a robust sales plan at Proofpoint," said Kane. "A secure emailinfrastructure is becoming increasingly important for organizations of allsizes, across every industry. I look forward to sharing Proofpoint'sleading solutions with these companies and extending our reach within themarket."Most recently, Chambers served as VP of Engineering for Platforms atYahoo!.