Paul Williams
In a steady, busy fight between a pair of fighters willing to let their hands go, Paul Williams largely dominated Nobuhiro Ishida en route to a shutout 12-round decision on three scores of 120-108 tonight on Showtime from Corpus Christi, Texas. Bad Left Hook scored it 118-110 for Williams, but the two rounds that went the Japanese fighter's were were debatable at best, admittedly, and the shutout scores are entirely easy to understand.
Williams (41-2, 27 KO) was fighting for the first time since his July robbery of Erislandy Lara on HBO, a fight he's clearly sick of talking about and wishes to move on from, which is understandable enough.
Does tonight's win prove that Paul Williams is back? Well, that's a difficult question without a yes or no answer. It doesn't prove he's ready to face top guys and be a favorite again, and that may never be his role in boxing from here on. He was cracked a few times by Ishida (24-7-2, 9 KO), and his defense was as inviting as ever, if you even want to call it defense.
He also lost snap on his punches as the fight wore on, and his power seemed to fade. He looked sharp early; the longer the fight went, the duller he appeared. Williams was consistently active and, in comparison to Ishida, consistently effective, but what does that mean against a top junior middleweight or middleweight? Probably not a lot.
Paul Williams is still a pretty good fighter, which in reality was probably all he ever was. It's not a knock, but "great" is thrown around too often, and guys get dreams cast onto them that they probably never did have the ability to live up to, and Williams seems like one of those guys. He's a respectable, fun fighter, with enormous flaws. He's an action guy who doesn't come up with boring fights because it's just not in him.
Is he one of the ten best junior middleweights in the world? Yeah, probably. He's done a lot more to claim that than some guys have, guys who are basically universally regarded as top ten in the division. And he's done every bit as much as someone like Austin Trout or Carlos Molina have recently, guys that a lot of people root for because they're, in a way, underdog stories, not having power promoters. He's still quality. He was expected, by many, to be great. He isn't. There's no shame in that.
Trout maybe, but I have a very hard time saying that Williams has done as much as Molina in this division given their respective performances against Lara and Cintron.
That?s fine, and ranking Williams above Vanes is perfectly justified given the latter?s level of competition. I haven?t thought Vanes was top 10 in this division for a while.
by bachwards on Feb 19, 2012 12:47 AM EST up reply actions My biggest issue with Williams was his D was really bad and he was still getting cracked with right hands. Ishida didnt have the skill or power to make Williams pay but someone like Alvarez would.
by SSreporters on Feb 19, 2012 1:04 AM EST up reply actions Glad to hear Paul Williams beat the "young Japanese fighter" After his controversial win over a man simply named ?Lara?.
by Sentimental on Feb 19, 2012 9:19 AM EST via iPhone app up reply actions Long Day for You, Scott, I'm Sure Bad Left Hook scored it 118-110 for Ishida, but the two rounds that went the Japanese fighter?s were were debatable at best, admittedly, and the shutout scores are entirely easy to understand.
by Scott Christ on Feb 19, 2012 1:47 AM EST up reply actions Williams has done way more the Molina He beat Wright and Martinez (he also got KO?d by Martinez). I think the 1st fight was at 160 but he came in at 150 something. Molina has only beaten Lara and Cintron and Cintron is not a top 10 anything and I think Lara is a question mark. I think Paul is in the top 3 at 154. Cotto, Alverez, Molina, Trout, Kirkland?.None have beaten a solid guy at 154. I would take Paul over all of those guys.
And just a comment on the article I think the hype and talk of him being great was true when he was at 147, he had so many advantages in that division(south paw, reach, chin, 6?3" frame) that don?t transfer as he has moved up to 154 &160. Still dont think anyone wants to fight him at 147 and he came in at 153 for this fight and if the money was right I know he could make 147. At 147 I take him over anybody?.Floyd, Manny, Berto, Ortiz?.I would fly to Vegas and bet the house on it. So at 147 thats when he was in PFP talks. At the higher division no he is not a PFP or all time great type fighter.
An entertaining volume puncher and, as Scott says, a pretty good fighter, but people were comparing him to Tommy Hearns at one time, for crying out loud, just because of his dimensions.
by Matt Mosley on Feb 19, 2012 4:42 AM EST up reply actions Moving up a weight division doesn't suddenly turn you from a great fighter to an average one. I don?t get this logic at all.
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