Paul Williams: Stylistically, He Can Be Corrected

Published

13 years ago

February 18, 2012

WilliamsLara Bailey4 Let's take the style and fighting mindset of two of the most iconic fighters and champions in boxing history, Muhammad Ali and “Smokin” Joe Frazier. Even the most casual boxing fans around not only know of them, but also have an inkling on how they fought and what their ring strategy was. What made their three fights so drama filled and epic was that they were equally as tough and determined as each other and they possessed conflicting boxing styles. ?

One's strength was the other's weakness and vice-versa.

Ali was tall and wanted to wage combat from the outside. He had a long reach and wanted to use the entire ring circumference to control the pace and tempo of the exchanges. Joe was just under six feet tall and had short stubby arms. In order for Frazier to be effective, he needed to get inside and take away Ali's reach. Once Joe was inside he could nullify Ali's long range hitting and force him to trade hooks and uppercuts, advantage Frazier. However, in order for Joe to gain the upper-hand, he needed to cut the ring off on Ali and either force him into a corner or get his back to the ropes and then cut loose. Easier said than done.

?The build and body structure of Muhammad and Joe had a lot to do with their style development and fighting mindset. In essence, Ali thought boxing entailed moving and using the ring and Joe believed boxing needed to be an inside war of attrition………Now, try and imagine Muhammad and Joe switching styles and ring concepts. Think of Ali forging the fight on the inside against every opponent he fought and Frazier circling and using the ring as he jabbed on the fly against every opponent he fought. Had that been the case, Ernie Terrell would've taken them both apart every time.Well I introduce you to junior middleweight Paul “The Punisher” Williams 40-2 (27). Williams stands a shade over 6' 1″ and has an 80 inch reach. In other words he's a half inch shorter than one of the greatest light heavyweight champions in history, Michael Spinks, and has a two inch longer reach. He's also a southpaw who can punch and has good hand speed. Yet, regardless of who his opponent has been since he defeated former junior middleweight title holder Winky Wright in 2009, Williams gives away every one of his physical advantages when he fights…and as a result every bout is tougher than it needs to be and he gets hit more than he should while absorbing unnecessary punishment in the process. ??Williams is tall for any fighter campaigning in between welterweight and middleweight. He has long arms and should make every opponent he faces pay a price for trying to get near him or inside. The problem is, he thinks he can punch like former welterweight champion Thomas Hearns, but clearly doesn't. He has the mindset of Joe Frazier and thinks he must attack every fighter in front of him. And if that's not bad enough, he often lets his hands drop as he's moving in and is a sitting duck for overhand lefts and rights, which incidentally cost him during his rematch with Sergio Martinez in 2010 (Martinez knocked Williams out with an overhand left in the second round).

Eight months after losing to Martinez, Williams won a gift decision over Erislandry Lara. Luckily for Paul, Lara isn't much of a puncher, because he was nailed repeatedly by overhand punches as he forced the fight. Tonight, he's fighting Nobuhiro Ishida 24-6-2 (9). Ishida is also 6' 1″ and is coming off two first round knockouts. He's not fast, but he's never been stopped and based on the result of his last two bouts, he probably believes he's a genuine life-taker. Couple that with how Williams looked last July against Lara and Ishida probably doesn't see himself as the opponent in this fight. And if he has a morsel of early success, would anyone be shocked if Williams made the fight tougher than it has to be?

?At this time Williams needs to reset and make some correctable adjustments stylistically if he wants to regain the junior middleweight or middleweight titles. When watching Paul work in the ring, it's obvious that he loves being inside throwing uppercuts and hooks. His problem is that he seldom if ever disguises them or sets them up, he leads with them. And to do that he must be close to his opponent and almost on top of them. And that's where he gets in trouble. By just walking in with his hands close to his body as he's looking to wing big looping shots, he gets hit cleanly by his opponent who can just reach out and nail him without moving his feet or facing any incoming jabs.

?Martinez and Lara must've been in shock during their recent bouts with Williams. As they had to be thinking, “Man, if this guy uses his reach and forces me to navigate it just in order to get off, I'd be in trouble.” But instead he allows shorter opponents to have an open causeway to nail him on the way in. And as long as he continues to not move his head or give them a different look, they can't miss the big target he presents.

“I feel like I always have to make a statement,” the 30-year-old Williams said this week. “I feel like every time I get in the ring, I've got to make a statement.” Sadly, that has to be construed as Paul thinking he needs a spectacular knockout to get back on track. This will give him the illusion that all he needs to do is focus in order to continue winning. And on that he would be mistaken. Williams needs to implement his height and range more into his game so he doesn't get hit as often and at the same time he would also score more cleanly because he'd be getting cleaner shots on fighters who have to address the physical gifts he was blessed with at birth. ??Someone needs to explain to Paul that you can actually hit an opponent harder who's coming to you than when you're pushing the fight. Joe Frazier and other swarmers had no choice but to push the fight. They were restricted by their height and short arms. Once inside Joe had the advantage, whereas Williams is at the disadvantage inside unless he picks his spots and creates openings instead of trying to blast his way in from bell-to-bell. Paul Williams doesn't need to be completely made over stylistically. He's a tremendous fighter who loves to fight and mix it up, so there's no way any trainer should attempt to remove that part of his game from of his holster. What they need to do is refine him and induce him to work more with what he has. Why should he toss aside physical assets that many world class fighters would give up five years of their life to own?

?Think about if you were a heavyweight contender today and were about to challenge title holder Wladimir Klitschko. Only, you knew during the fight you'd never have to address his height or reach, and you could reach and touch him without ever having to step towards him because he'll be right there in front of you. That would have to be a dream come true for any opponent of Wladimir. Well, that's the present Williams usually offers his opponents, resulting in his most recent bouts turning into herculean struggles.??It's amazing what Williams has accomplished as a fighter without much help. His natural talent and desire have been what's carried him. He's obviously loyal to his team almost to a fault and if he brought in an upper-tier trainer he'd be infinitely better within six months. ??In summary, Paul Williams needs to fight a little more scared and not look for a one-punch knockout with every shot he launches. He needs to make his opponents deal with his reach and cannot continue to offer his head on a silver platter for any contender he thinks he can just walk to as if they're handcuffed and then beat them down.

?These are correctable flaws for any fighter with the tools Williams possesses, but require extreme discipline on his part. Williams must grasp that he's not fighting to his optimum and be willing to do what's necessary to bring out the best in himself. Hopefully he isn't too set in his belief that his way is the only way, or that he's not physically damaged beyond repair. ??

Which isn't a given.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2025

David A. Avila

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Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.

Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.

“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.

Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.

After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.

Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.

One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”

Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.

“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”

Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.

A real fight was happening.

Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.

Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.

In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.

“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”

Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.

In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.

“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”

Espinoza Wins

WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.

“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.

Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.

Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.

It was Espinoza’s third title defense.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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The curtain was drawn on a busy boxing weekend tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where the featured attraction was Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue appearing in his twenty-fifth world title fight.

The top two fights (Inoue vs. Roman Cardenas for the unified 122-pound crown and Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for the WBO world featherweight diadem) aired on the main ESPN platform with the preliminaries streaming on ESPN+.

The finale of the preliminaries was a 10-rounder between welterweights Rohan Polanco and Fabian Maidana. A 2020/21 Olympian for the Dominican Republic, Polanco was a solid favorite and showed why by pitching a shutout, punctuating his triumph by knocking Maidana to his knees late in the final round with a hard punch to the pit of the stomach.

Polanco improved to 16-0 (10). Argentina’s Maidana, the younger brother of former world title-holder Marcos Maidana, fell to 24-4 while maintaining his distinction of never being stopped.

Emiliano Vargas, a rising force in the 140-pound division with the potential to become a crossover star, advanced to 14-0 (12 KOs) with a second-round stoppage Juan Leon. Vargas, who turned 21 last month, is the son of former U.S. Olympian Fernando Vargas who had big money fights with the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Emiliano knocked Leon down hard twice in round two – both the result of right-left combinations — before Robert Hoyle waived it off.

A 28-year-old Spaniard, Leon was 11-2-1 heading in.

In his U.S. debut, 29-year-old Japanese southpaw Mikito Nakano (13-0, 12 KOs) turned in an Inoue-like performance with a fourth-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Pedro Medina. Nakano, a featherweight, had Medina on the canvas five times before referee Harvey Dock waived it off at the 1:58 mark of round four. The shell-shocked Medina (16-2) came into the contest riding a 15-fight winning streak.

Lynwood, California junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr, a 19-year-old protégé of Robert Garcia, scored a sixth-round stoppage of Chicago’s Juan Carlos Guerra. There were no knockdowns, but the bout had turned sharply in Barrera’s favor when referee Thomas Taylor intervened. The official time was 1:15 of round six.

Barrera improved to 9-0 (7 KOs). The spunky but outclassed Guerra, who upset Nico Ali Walsh in his previous outing, declined to 6-2-1.

In the lid-lifter, a 10-round featherweight affair, Muskegon Michigan’s Ra’eese Aleem improved to 22-1 (12) with a unanimous decision over LA’s hard-trying Rudy Garcia (13-2-1). The judges had it 99-01, 98-92, and 97-93.

Aleem, 34, was making his second start since June of 2023 when he lost a split decision in Australia to Sam Goodman with a date with Naoya Inoue hanging in the balance.

Check back shortly for David Avila’s recaps of the two world title fights.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has acquired a new nickname – “The Face of Boxing” – is accustomed to fighting on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but this year was different. For the first time, Canelo was fighting outside the continent of North America and entering the ring at an awkward hour. His match with William Scull started at 6:30 on a Sunday morning in Riyadh.

In the opposite corner was 32-year-old William Scull, an undefeated (23-0) Cuban by way of Germany, whose performance was better suited to “Dancing With the Stars” than to a world title fight. Constantly bouncing from side to side but rarely letting his hands go, Scull frustrated Canelo who found it near-impossible to corner him, but one can’t win a fight solely on defense and the Mexican superstar was returned the rightful winner in a bout that was a fitting cap to a desultory two days of Saudi-promoted prizefighting. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109. In winning, Canelo became a fully unified super middleweight champion twice over.

Terence Crawford was in attendance and HE Turki Alalshikh made it official: Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will meet in the Fight of the Century (Alalshikh’s words) on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas at the home of the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. For whatever it’s worth, each of Canelo’s last seven fights has gone the full 12 rounds.

Semi-wind-up

In a match between the WBC world cruiserweight title-holder and the WBC world cruiserweight “champion in recess” (don’t ask), the former, Badou Jack, brought some clarity to the diadem by winning a narrow decision over Noel Mikaelian. One of the judges had it a draw (114-114), but the others gave the fight to “Jack the Ripper” by 115-113 scores.

A devout Muslim who is now a full-time resident of Saudi Arabia, the Sweden-born Jack, a three-division title-holder, had the crowd in his corner. Now 41 years old, he advanced his record to 29-3-3 (17). It was the first pro loss for Mikaelian (27-1), a Florida-based Armenian who was subbing for Ryan Rozicki.

The distracted CompuBox operator credited Mikaelian with throwing 300 more punches but there was no controversy.

Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight title-holder, avenged his shocking loss to Bruno Sarace with a unanimous 12-round decision in their rematch. This was Munguia’s first fight with Eddy Reynoso in his corner. The scores were 117-111 and 116-112 twice.

Surace’s one-punch knockout of Munguia in mid-December in Tijuana was the runaway pick for the 2024 Upset of the Year. Heading in, Munguia was 44-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. Munguia had won every round against Surace before the roof fell in on him.

Surace won a few rounds tonight, but Munguia was the busier fighter and landed the cleaner shots. It was the first pro loss for Surace (26-1-2) and ended his 23-fight winning streak. The Frenchman hails for Marseilles.

Heavyweights

In a 10-round heavyweight match fought at a glacial pace, Martin Bakole (21-2-1) and Efe Ajagba (20-1-1) fought to a draw. One of the judges favored Ajagba 96-94 but he was outvoted by his cohorts who each had it 95-95.

Bakole, a 7/2 favorite, came in at 299 pounds, 15 more than he carried in his signature win over Jared Anderson, and looked sluggish. He was never able to effectively close off the ring against the elusive Ajagba who fought off his back foot and failed to build on his early lead.

The fight between the Scotch-Congolese campaigner Bakole and his Nigerian-American foe was informally contested for the heavyweight championship of Africa. That “title” remains vacant.

In a 6-rounder, heavy-handed Cuban light heavyweight Brayon Leon, a stablemate of Canelo Alvarez, was extended the distance for the first time while advancing his record to 7-0 at the expense of Mexico’s Aaron Roche (11-4-1). Leon knocked Roche to the canvas in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but the Mexican stayed the course while eating a lot of hard punches.

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry Promotions

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