Paul Williams

Allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is Paul—Paul Williams to be exact. 

My nickname is "The Punisher."

I have been solid from 147 pounds to 160 pounds.

No one wants to fight me though. Can you help me please?

Aiken, South Carolina native Williams has been on the boxing scene since he beat Antonio Margarito for the WBO welterweight title.

Williams stands 6'2" and has the wingspan of a heavyweight. He served notice to everyone in the lower weight classes when he beat Margarito, beating him at his own game with his punch output and power. This is also the same thing that scares off his potential opponents.

In the sport of boxing, style points go a long way. Williams hasn't always looked good while doing his job and thus has has fallen under the radar.

He just can't get a big named fighter to fight him at boxing's most prized weight class at the present time.

To say it better, he's a modern day Tommy Hearns.

Hearns had his share of fights at 147 including a thriller with Sugar Ray Leonard. People were in awe of his physical attributes, yet fought him anyway. Williams is a less punishing and complete fighter then Hearns yet no one wants to fight him.

Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather both avoid him.

I guess they have at least one thing in common. Mayweather says he isn't a big name fighter so he won't fight him yet. 

Cotto is just ducking him.

Margarito turned him down for a second fight.

Where's the heart at in the welterweight division?

Sadly, Williams is forced to venture out at other weights in order to get action which sets him back.

He is the cream of the crop at 147.

He's the top 154 pounder in the world.

Williams also holds his own at 160 as well, but he isnt as dominant.

Will the real welterweights please stand up and give this fighter a chance.

Few in the game could have put on so dominating a performance.

After his completely lopsided and dominant performance over Winky Wright, options abound for Paul Williams.

Should he return to 147? Campaign at 154? Make Middleweight his new home?

Let's take a look at the potential challengers at each weight.

147

If Paul is to fight at this weight again, it will have to be for big challenges. The reason he moved up in the first place was the lack of potential challengers, and nobody at 147 seems to be calling him out.

Then again, there is one guy that has the guts to step in the ring with Paul at 147, and that guy is...

Shane Mosley

Shane's name has been mentioned as a potential next opponent for Paul Williams. I personally don't think this fight makes much sense for Shane.

Paul is too young, too big, and would simply overwork Shane over 12 rounds. It would be like watching the Wright fight all over again, but at a different weight class.

It is also worth noting that Paul is not a terribly big draw yet, so unless this fight is taking place at Staples Center, it doesn't make much financial sense either.

With that said, Shane will take this fight if he doesn't have a better offer. Mosley is a fighter's fighter, and backs down from no challenge.

Miguel Cotto

No way Arum lets Cotto anywhere near Paul Williams. It would be like the Margarito fight, but with legal hand wraps. Cotto would land the sharper counter blows early, then get steamrolled by the bigger man. This is a nightmare matchup for Cotto.

Those are the only two names being thrown around at 147 for Williams. Margarito is suspended until who knows when, and Mayweather wants no part of Williams.

Mentioning Pacquiao is laughable. Maybe Judah would be desperate enough to sign on the dotted line.

154

This is the weight class with the least amount of high profile matchups for Paul. The Punisher could likely unify and dominate this weight class for years to come, but their are higher profile matchups at 147 and 160.

For this reason, I see Paul only stopping through this weight class for "stay busy" fights. Here are some options.

Sergio Mora

This is an interesting option for a stay busy fight. Mora has a name, and can sell tickets in California. He is not a very hard puncher, and would likely be an easy win for Williams.

The former contender champion has said no to big fights before, though, so there is no guarantee he would agree to this fight.

Vernon Forrest

This fight would be for the Ring Magazine title at 154. Forrest is ranked No. 1 and Williams No. 2. This fight would be similar to the Wright fight, with maybe an earlier ending.

Forrest is getting long in the tooth, and fights more in spots and has proven against Mora that he can be outworked.

Yours truly ran into Forrest at an ESPN fight in Augusta last year and asked him about a potential matchup with Williams, to which he responded, "Nah Bro, Nah."

James Kirkland

This would be a very interesting matchup. Kirkland is not getting aboard the Paul Williams hype train and has started calling out the Punisher.

He has stated that although Williams is a very good fighter, his tendency to give up his height and fight on the inside makes him an easy target for Kirkland's style. I agree to a degree.

If Williams chose to double and triple up on his jab, circle, and tie up on the inside, this could be an easy win for him.

If he chose to fight on the inside with Kirkland, he could get mauled and outworked. This could be one of the toughest matchups for Williams right now.

Sergio Martinez and Corey Spinks are two other possibilities, and each could present some degree of threat. Martinez is speedy, a southpaw, and can box. He can be easy to hit at times, however, and I'm not sure he could keep up with Paul's work rate.

If he could outspeed Paul and keep moving, he could hand Paul a loss. Spinks is very crafty and always underrated, but he is featherfisted and would likely get beat up.

160

Arthur Abraham

Personally I think this would be a bad matchup for Paul. Abraham has a similar defensive style to Winky Wright, and is younger. He seems to be able to adjust well in fights, and this fight would almost have to take place in Germany to make money.

For these reasons I would favor Abraham in this potential matchup. I'm not saying Williams couldn't win, I just think he has less of an edge against natural middleweights who might be bigger men.

Kelly Pavlik

This fight is likely to be made at some point in the near future. This is a pick 'em fight in my mind. I can see this fight playing out in two ways.

Scenario A is Pavlik catching Williams with some heavy blows and stopping him, or earning a unanimous decision after hurting and dropping Williams. Scenario B is Williams using his angles, footwork, and handspeed to outpoint Pavlik.

I would truly like to see how Williams responds to the power of a hard hitter like Pavlik. He has shown a great chin thus far, but if he keeps moving up in weight someone is gonna be able to test that.

Of all the potential matchups I listed, I see Abraham at 160,and Kirkland and Martinez at 154, as being the biggest threats to hand Williams his next loss.

Originally presented at BoxingWatchers.com.

When Winky Wright actually admits he's been beaten, that's saying something.

I had to leave for work right after the 10th round of the Paul Williams-Winky Wright fight on Saturday, but I had seen enough by then.

As I walked out the door, I told my brother I already knew what was going to happen: Williams was going to win by decision and Wright was going to complain about it.

Turns out I only got the first part right. The man who A.P. writer Greg Beachem correctly pegged as a "notoriously sore loser" wasn't sore at all (except in the face), admitting the judges' lopsided scores were correct.

Wright was flummoxed by punches thrown from impossible angles. At one point, Williams threw a left uppercut under his own right arm, which Wright was holding.

The ref was so taken aback that he instinctively issued a warning to Williams.

Winky also acknowledged that, while he was ready to face a lot of punches, he didn't understand it was going to be quite that many. The volume that Williams delivers has to be seen to be believed.

Before we get too carried away, I should stop short of making it seem like Williams is invincible. I'd stop way short of saying what promoter Dan Goossen said when he called his fighter the best in the world, regardless of weight.

Williams's defense is a little sloppy, for one thing. Though he's quite capable of enough head and leg movement to be evasive, Williams got tagged a number of times by a fighter nearly 10 years his senior.

He seems to have a sturdy chin, but hasn't faced enough one-punch KO artists to tell where his toughness lies.

That's nitpicking though.

Williams' blend of activity, offensive variety, and conditioning show he is tough enough, even without considering his freakishly long reach and the fact that he's a lefty.

He comes across as likable as well, so he should be on his way to becoming a true star.

One problem: Most boxing scribes agree, as do I, that his near-blanking of Wright isn't likely to make other top boxers want to fight him—a difficult task even before Saturday.

One thing Williams does have going for him is that his able to pull off his team's plan to fight anywhere between 147 and 160 pounds.

With that in mind, I've brainstormed some possible opponents at welterweight, junior middle, and middleweight, and separated them by likelihood:

Welterweight Division

Intriguing possibility: Miguel Cotto—He seems like the kind of guy who would relish the challenge, and if he can beat Joshua Clottey convincingly, his stock will be back on the rise.

Cotto is also a big enough star to sell tickets if the fight is held in the right place, like NYC.

Doubtful: Shane Mosley—Sugar Shane has supposedly already nixed fighting Williams in the past. He's close to the end of his career and wants to take only the biggest money fights, which probably rules out The Punisher.

No freaking way: Antonio Margarito—He's suspended right now, and has already lost to Williams once.

Junior Middleweight Division

Intriguing possibility: James Kirkland—Kirkland could have enough confidence in himself to say, "I don't give a f---" and just wade through punches to go after Williams.

Knockout artist Alfredo Angulo may fit that description too, but he's less likely to be ready for such a big step up.

Doubtful: Vernon Forrest—The Viper just pulled out of a fight due to injury and is even older than Wright. Plus, even he is shorter than Williams.

No freaking way: Oscar De La Hoya—It's funny just to think about the Golden Boy facing down 100-plus punches a round.

Middleweight Division

Intriguing possibility—No one comes to mind, unless Bernard Hopkins jumps in a time machine and rewinds the clock 10 years.

Doubtful: Kelly Pavlik—Team Pavlik seems to be content with a safer path for the time being. If he and Williams cross paths, I'm guessing it will be a couple of years down the road.

No freaking way: Arthur Abraham—Right now, it's tough to get him to come across the pond and fight the much more conventional Pavlik. Think he's going to do it to try and solve Williams?

Me neither.

Winky Wright once was a great fighter.

He belongs in the same class as Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones Jr., and Sugar Shane Mosley. In his day, he was a very smart and cagey fighter who looked for his opportunities and had excellent defense.

On Saturday night, Paul Williams officially ushered in the changing of the guard.

Williams dominated the fight from the opening bell to the closing credits. Wright perhaps won two rounds (and that's being generous).

Paul Williams proved why he's the most feared fighter in boxing.

He's lanky with especially long arms, excellent footwork, great head movement, and very good power. However, it's his stamina that is his most treasured asset.

He just never stops throwing.

He completely dominated Wright from the outset and kept a glove in his face all night long. Wright didn't look bad, he just looked completely over-matched.

Some people say that Williams is the second coming of Tommy Hearns.

I disagree.

Hearns had a at right that could end a fight with one punch. Williams is more of a "pitty-pat" fighter who has more stamina than Ron Jeremy on Viagra.

I don't know who is out there that could give Williams a fight right now? Those long arms of his will give a shorter fighter a lot of trouble. Someone like Kelly Pavlik is tailor-made for Williams.

I'd say Antonio Margarito, but Williams knocked him out 18 months ago.

The amazing thing is that Williams isn't getting more recognition. He really is one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters in the world and he should be getting huge paydays.

It's amazing that, at 6'1", Williams can make welterweight (147 lbs). What's even more amazing is that nobody in the division wants a piece of him. Mayweather, Hatton, Pacquiao—nobody will give him a fight.

It will be a shame if Williams must continually move up in weight to get a fight but that looks to be the case.

Just like King J predicted, Paul "The Punisher" Williams punished the older, rusty, former pound-for-pound ranked Ronald "Winky" Wright Saturday Night, in Las Vegas, to a unanimous decision.

King J wrote about the strong publicity and hype he felt Paul Williams was receiving from the HBO crew, and knew even if it was close that Williams would indeed win the decision.

This fight was not close by any means.

Two of the three judges scored all but one round for Williams, and one of the judges, Byrd, scored all 12 rounds for Williams.

King J's official score card was 10 rounds for Williams, and two rounds for Winky.

I personally thought Winky's best round was the first round, where he was able to block and absorb most of Williams' punches, and threw the harder, more-effective punches.

From that point on, round after round, Williams dominated with his punches, coming from many angles, and often punching through the once air-tight shield defense of Winky.

Williams threw 1,086 punches, landing 247.

Winky landed 100 less punches, and threw 400 less than Williams.

Williams improved his record to 37-1, with 27 knockouts.

When questioned by Larry Merchant about possibly facing Kelly Pavlik or Abraham Paul, Williams said he was willing to take on all comers.

Winky talked about his long lay off, ring rust and admitted his timing was off, but stated he will be back in the ring soon.

On the under card was the increasingly popular Mexican-American heavyweight Chris Arreola.

Arreola knocked out Jameel McCline in round four.

Arreola landed a left upper cut to the chin of McCline, and then followed with a right and left. McCline came out of retirement for this fight, but it appeared his heart was never really in it.

Arreola said he would be willing to go for either Klitschko for their belts if they are ready to give him a shot.

Interestingly, Emmanuel Steward, who trains both Klitschko brothers, stated he felt Wladimir may not be able to keep Arreola off him with his signature jab.

Chris Arreola improves his record to 27-0 with 24 knockouts.

King J's Predictions Prior to these fights:

Arreola mid round stoppage

Paul Williams UD

This Saturday, on HBO, will be an amazing night for the sweet science, better known as boxing. HBO devotes a whole night to boxing with the Thrilla in Manila documentary, the Paul Williams vs. Winky Wright fight, Chris Arreola vs. Jameel McCline on the under card, and then the critically acclaimed HBO 24/7 show featuring Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton.

I was requested to do a break down of how I see Williams vs Wright playing out so here it is short and simple.

First off I highly respect Winky Wright. He was the defense guru of the sport and on top of the pound-for-pound rankings for several years, but he has been inactive for almost two whole years now.

No doubt the ring rust will surely take it's toll on Wright at this stage of his wonderful career.

Wright has had problems with taller larger opponents, such as Hopkins and Taylor. So given Paul Williams is even taller and maintains a significant reach advantage over Winky this fight is a disaster for Wright.

Williams is in his prime and seems to be getting better with each fight. By going up in weight it seems Paul now has more strength and power. He's finally able to keep throwing punches from bell to bell.

Let's face the reality of the politics of this match up as well, Williams seems to be the next poster boy for HBO for several reasons. One of the most obvious ones being Max Kellerman's repeated declaration for his biased love of "The Punisher".

So if this fight reaches the score cards, which I probably see happening because Winky is a damn hard fighter to knock out even for someone as young and hungry like Williams, I see a decision going to Williams whether it be by a rightful decision or a political decision.

KING J's Official Prediction

Williams by UD (Hopefully a stand up decision, not a shady political one)

If the fight will be made, two southpaws will clash in a bout I expect to be very entertaining. Winky Wright will challenge Paul Williams.

Let's talk about Paul "The Punisher" Williams first. He is a menacing 6'1" with an 82" reach advantage. He is freakishly huge for his division and causes a lot of mismatches. His punch-output-per-round is phenomenal as well.

In his match against Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams was very busy, winning the first half of the fight, however, he allowed the Tijuana Tornado to get inside in the later rounds with punishing body shots and got cut in the 11th round. But Williams already built a comfortable lead and ended with  a unanimous decision victory.

In that fight, it showed that Williams can easily be hit on the inside as he was almost knocked down in the 11th round. Then against Carlos Quintana, he was outboxed for most of the fight and lost by decision.

It was a good thing that in the rematch, he was able to hurt Quintana and successfully regained the title by way of TKO. Williams was able to redeem himself in that match. After destroying Vernon Philipps, Paul Williams is now considered a beast in his division. One of the most avoided fighters in welterweight.

And now comes Winky Wright. He was once considered as the most avoided boxer in his time. And that was the past. He has been inactive for more than a year now.

Winky Wright is not an exciting fighter to watch. He is not considered a puncher but rather a slick boxer and counter puncher. He has been avoided because of that effective style of making his opponents make mistakes and make them pay for that.

He earned wins against Shane Mosley twice and he put on a boxing clinic when he fought Felix Trinidad. Those were impressive wins. And because of that, he was ducked.

Winky Wright is now 37 years old. Same as "Sugar" Shane Mosley. And age is always a variable in making predictions in a boxing match. Add to that the fact that he has been inactive.

I truly admire Winky Wright for taking on this challenge without having a tune-up fight. Winky must've seen something in Paul Williams that made him think that he can win over "The Punisher".

Can Winky Wright pull off an upset? He is clearly the underdog in this fight. Can he follow what Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley displayed in their recent fight?

In his last fight against "The Executioner", Winky Wright was thoroughly outboxed by Hopkins. But that was Hopkins. Williams is no master boxer like Bernard. I am hoping that Winky has a good game plan against his formidable opponent.

I am expecting Paul Williams to take this one, but, if Winky Wright pulls it off, I won't be surprised. With the recent demolition of Antonio Margarito in the hands of Shane Mosley, it only shows that anything is possible.