Featured Articles
The Truth About Austin “Ammo” Williams, Houston’s Gifted Up-and-Comer

There’s no shortage of fighters working out at local boxing gyms who are eager to share with you their plans for world domination. But there really aren’t that many capable of actually pulling it off. Austin “Ammo” Williams is a notable exception. One of the top junior middleweight prospects in the world today, Williams lives and trains in Houston.
“I love to fight,” said Williams. “That’s my whole plan and plot for the world. I want the world to see that side of me right now.”
It’s no wonder the 23-year-old was quickly scooped up by promoter Eddie Hearn last year, and alongside six other stalwart hopefuls, seems to figure heavily in the race to become DAZN’s first homegrown boxing star.
If you’ve already seen him fight before, you know two things about Williams. First, he’s an incredibly gifted athlete, the kind that’s pretty much always going to be faster, stronger and better equipped than just about any person he’ll ever see in an opposing corner.
Second, Williams is a hard-punching and aggressive southpaw who is eager to concuss people. Despite getting a late start in the sport at age 19 and having just 47 amateur bouts under his belt when he decided to turn pro, Williams doesn’t really appear to be just learning on the job as he moves up the professional ranks. I mean sure, the kid has to learn to be a professional boxer the same way every fighter who enters the paid ranks has to do. But Williams looks way more like a longtime amateur stalwart with Olympic pedigree than he does some random guy off the street with less than 50 fights.
So whenever Williams, 22, who trains at Main Street Boxing & Muay Thai Gym in Houston, enters a boxing ring on fight night, he isn’t just trying to scrape by and win fights. Williams wants to knock his opponent out, and he wants to look good doing it.
“I love to fight people, and it’s not because I’m angry or something,” said Williams. “I just really just enjoy it. There’s nothing that gives me the same kind of thrill as fighting.”
Williams attended high school at Fort Bend Hightower in suburban Houston where he played football, basketball, and several other sports. He said he was a “natural athlete” and also that he could dunk a basketball which is something one might easily assume about the fighter just from seeing how well he moves inside a boxing ring.
But Williams also said he got into a little bit of trouble growing up, mostly because he always ended up getting into fistfights.
“I just got in a lot of trouble, and it wasn’t bad trouble as far as like being in a gang or anything, but it was all fighting,” said Williams. “Nothing gave me the thrill that actually fighting and testing it out did. So at the age of 19, I realized, this is what I was passionate about. So I said let’s go into it formally and legally and let’s see what I can do.”
Williams is trained by Dwight Pratchett, a former boxer and longtime training fixture at Main Street. During his own fighting days, Pratchett twice won the NABF junior lightweight title and was the first to go the 12-round distance with Hall of Fame legend Julio Cesar Chavez.
“He works really hard,” said Pratchett about his young protégé. “He has a really good work ethic.”
Pratchett said his job, along with the fighter’s California-based management team of Peter Berg and Sam Katkovski, was to keep Williams moving in the right direction. He said for all Williams’ talent and natural fighting ability, fighters like him are best moved up the ranks slowly because they usually want to do too much too soon. The learning curve for a professional fighter, after all, is very steep.
That evident in Williams’ last fight, a scheduled four-rounder against Quadeer Jenkins on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz heavyweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 1.
In that fight, Williams was tagged with a hard right hand in the opening seconds.
“Right out the gate!” said Williams.
But Williams isn’t just a blunt instrument. He’s an intelligent and affable fighter who could easily have gone to college to become an engineer or scientist or something. He also seems wise for his age, saying that getting hit clean like that was just one of many experiences he’ll have in boxing that will help mold him into a future world champion.
In fact, I could tell Williams had been thinking about the experience a lot because he was happy to share with me what he learned from it.
“That was a great experience for me actually, something that I had been warned about,” said Williams. “But it’s another one of those things that you just get as you go through it. You fight guys like that who have pretty much nothing to lose and they come out blazing.”
Williams said the remedy for the onslaught was a left hook to the body, a hard one given with serious force and optimal precision, to keep Jenkins from rushing forward again. From that point forward, Williams dominated and ultimately stopped Jenkins just two minutes later for his second knockout in as many fights.
“The goal in my mind now is to make sure that I never get tagged that fast coming out again,” said Williams. “And we’re also coming up with some new strategies to make sure that never happens. It’s that simple.”
The best part about Williams is probably his candor. It’s one thing to suffer a small kind of humiliation as he did against Jenkins. After all, so long as Williams achieves his full potential or close to it, most people probably won’t remember anything about that moment someday.
Heck, I suppose most people wouldn’t have even asked him about it.
But it’s another to openly talk about the experience, to share the truth of the feeling with a complete stranger, and to talk about how even this one little, seemingly meaningless thing in his second pro fight might become part of the larger fabric that becomes his personal legacy.
Yes, Williams plans to take over the boxing world someday, and being an amazing athlete with natural fighting ability will certainly help him in that endeavor. But the bigger thing to me, and the one that sets him apart in my mind as a likely future world champion is that he doesn’t try to hide any little thing about himself.
He sees the truth. He accepts the truth. He becomes the truth.
“I cringe every time I look at it because I know I’m better than that,” said Williams. “But, as I said before, that’s just one of those experiences I get from going in there, and some things can only be learned in the ring.”
Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel
To comment on this story on The Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
Avila Perspective, Chap. 317: Callum Walsh, Dana White and More

As Callum Walsh stood on the observation deck at the top of the Empire State Building with fists clenched, it harked back to actor Jimmy Cagney, an actor of Irish descent, yelling “Top of the world, ma,” in the 1949 motion picture White Heat.
The Irish-born Walsh brings that kind of attitude.
Once again Walsh (12-0, 10 KOs) returns to New York City and this time faces Scottish warrior Dean Sutherland (19-1, 7 KOs) in a super welterweight match set for 10 rounds on Sunday, March 16, at Madison Garden Theater.
UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions event.
Flanked by master trainer Freddie Roach and managed by Dana White it brings questions as to the direction that Walsh will be steered. It was just revealed that White will head a new boxing promotion outfit with big plans to make a more UFC type of organization.
Is Walsh part of the plans?
It’s a lot to digest as the hot prospect from Cork, Ireland proceeds toward world championship dreams. Can he cleanse his mind of this major distraction?
Walsh and Sutherland are both southpaws who are meeting at the crossroads in the heart of New York City. At this point of their careers a loss can mean rebooting and taking a few steps backward. The winner moves on to the next crucial step.
Sutherland, 26, hails from Aberdeen and has never fought outside of his native Scotland. It’s a lot to ask of someone whose country’s population of 5 million is dwarfed by New York City’s 8.2 million inhabitants all packed together.
Ireland’s population is also 5 million. So basically, both Walsh and Sutherland are on even terms when they enter the prize ring on Sunday.
Who knows what kind of competition Sutherland faced in Scotland. He beat two undefeated fighters and also conquered two foes who each had more than 100 losses on their resumes.
Meanwhile, Walsh has faced only one undefeated fighter but handled veterans like Benjamin Whitaker, Ismael Villareal and Carlos Ortiz Cervantes. But you never know until they meet face to face. Anything can happen in a prize ring.
Walsh has a three-fight knockout streak. Sutherland has slept two out of his last three foes. They will be joined by several Irish fighters on the card plus Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin.
Dana, Turk and TKO
The announcement earlier in the week that Turki Alalshikh together with TKO Group Holdings that include Dana White and Nick Khan formed a new boxing promotion company.
White, who does not own UFC but guides the MMA ship, works for Endeavor, the parent company of UFC and WWE. Their events are all shown on ESPN, the powerful sports network (albeit WWE’s flagship weekly show “Raw” recently moved to Netflix). It seems Endeavor has decided to allow White to guide its boxing program too.
Where does that leave Top Rank?
It seems the partnership plans to rid boxing of the many sanctioning organizations and have only one champion per division. The champion will be given a Ring Magazine belt. Recently, Turki Alalshikh purchased The Ring magazine from Golden Boy Promotions. This seems to have been the plan all along.
Is this good for boxing?
Mark Shapiro, the president of TKO Group Holdings, said:
“This is a strategic opportunity to re-imagine the sport of boxing globally. TKO has the deep expertise, promotional prowess, and longstanding relationships. HE Turki Alalshikh and Sela share our passion and vision for evolving the current model. Together, we can bring the sweet science back to its rightful place in the forefront of the global sports ecosystem.”
DAZN all day
Three boxing cards take place on Saturday beginning with WBA featherweight titlist Nick Ball (21-0-1) the human cannonball, defending against former champion TJ Doheny from Liverpool, England. The first bout begins around 9:30 a.m. (Pacific Coast Time). Ball likes to charge forward and punch. Doheny is no slouch and has experience.
Later, Matchroom Boxing presents a show from Florida that features Edgar Berlanga (22-1) fresh off a solid contest against Canelo Alvarez. He fights undefeated Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz (20-0-1) in a super middleweight match. Also, Ammo Williams (17-1) returns to face dangerous Patrice Volny (19-1) in a middleweight clash. The card starts at 3:30 p.m. (Pacific Coast Time.
Saturday evening MarvNation presents Amado Vargas (11-0) meeting Eduardo Hernandez (8-2) in a super lightweight contest at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California. Start time is set for 8 p.m. (Pacific Coast Time). The son of the great Fernando Vargas remains undefeated.
Fights to Watch
Sat. DAZN 11:30 a.m. Nick Ball (21-0-1) vs TJ Doheny (26-5).
Sat. DAZN 3:30 p.m. Edgar Berlanga (22-1) vs Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz (20-0-1) ; Ammo Williams (17-1) vs Patrice Volny (19-1).
Sat. DAZN 8 p.m. Amado Vargas (11-0) vs Eduardo Hernandez (8-2).
Sun. UFC Fight Pass 3 p.m. Callum Walsh (12-0) vs Dean Sutherland (19-1).
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
A Fresh Face on the Boxing Scene, Bryce Mills Faces His Toughest Test on Friday

“He wants to test himself and find out just how good he really is,” said International Boxing Hall of Fame promoter Russell Peltz regarding super lightweight Bryce Mills. Peltz, who has dealt with a wide range of fighters throughout his lifetime in boxing, recognized the fire that burned inside Mills at a local show in Philadelphia in early 2022. At the time Mills had less than ten professional fights under his belt.
Mills hails from Liverpool in upstate New York and trains in nearby Syracuse. Currently 17-1 (6 KOs), he’s undefeated in his last 11 since losing a split decision to a Puerto Rican fighter from the Bronx who had fought much stiffer competition.
The fight in question that caught Peltz’s eye was arranged by the well-known and respected matchmaker Nick Tiberi who paired Mills in an intriguing fight against Daiyaan Butt, a tough and skilled fighter from the Philadelphia area. They fought at LIVE Casino in South Philadelphia on Feb. 24, 2022.
Although the crowd on hand that night favored Butt, Mills, although then only 20 years old, wasn’t intimidated and was the clear-cut winner at the end of their exciting, back-and-forth battle. This showed Peltz that Mills was serious about seeing just how far his ability could take him.
That’s why Peltz decided to join forces with Mills. Despite being semi-retired, Peltz is still active enough to help guide fighters through the ever-changing wild west landscape that is boxing. Since their union after Mill’s victory over Butt, Mills has been on a nine-fight winning streak heading into what Peltz believes is the toughest test of his career this Friday against Alex Martin 18-6 (6 KOs) of Chicago.
“I didn’t want him to take this fight, it’s a dangerous fight for him. Martin is a southpaw and is tricky, he’s a veteran and is experienced. His father (Mills’s father) called me and said that Bryce wanted the fight, to his credit,” says Peltz. One look at Martin’s resume and it confirms what Peltz stated. All six of Martin’s losses came against fighters with outstanding records including a former world title challenger. Martin also holds some quality wins over undefeated prospects that were at similar points in their careers to where Mills currently is in his development.
Bryce Mills looks like a fighter (he’s always in shape), acts like a fighter (testing his craft against all comers), walks the walk of a fighter, and fights with a fan-friendly pedal-to-the-metal style. That is a winning combination that could be the breath of fresh air the boxing world could surely use and on Friday night at the Wind Creek Events Center in Bethlehem, PA, live on DAZN, Mills is going to have the opportunity to put the boxing world on notice.
***
DAZN will televise the Mills-Martin fight along with a main event that features undefeated middleweight Euri Cedeno (10-0-1, 9 KO’s) against Ulices Rivera (11-1, 7 KO’s). Knockout artist Joseph Adorno (20-4-1, 17 KOs) and undefeated Reading, PA super featherweight Julian Gonzalez (15-0-1, 11 KOs) appear in separate bouts on the undercard. Tickets for the Marshall Kauffman’s Kings Promotion show are still available through Ticketmaster. Lobby doors open at 5:00 pm. First bell is at 7:00.
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
High Drama in Japan as ‘Amazing Boy’ Kenshiro Teraji Overcomes Seigo Yuri Akui

Overshadowed by countrymen Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani, Kenshiro Teraji embossed his Hall of Fame credentials in Tokyo tonight with a dramatic 12th-round stoppage of Seigo Yuri Akui. At stake were two pieces of the world flyweight title. A two-time world title-holder a division below (108), Teraji (25-1, 16 KOs) was appearing in his 16th world title fight.
This Japan vs. Japan matchup will go down in Japanese boxing lore as one of the best title fights ever on Japanese soil. Through the 11 completed rounds, Akui was up 105-104 on two of the cards with Teraji up 106-103 on the third. However, judging by his appearance, Akui was more damaged. The stoppage by Japanese referee Katsuhiko Nakamura, which came at the 1:31 mark of the final round with Akui still standing, struck some as premature but the gallant Akui was well-beaten.
A second-generation prizefighter, Kenshiro Teraji, 33, came bearing the WBC 112-pound belt which he acquired this past October with an 11th round TKO of Nicaraguan veteran Cristofer Rosales. The 29-year-old Akui (21-3-1) was making the second defense of the WBA strap he won with a wide decision over previously undefeated Artem Dalakian.
Although Teraji keeps on rolling – this was his seventh straight win which began with a third-round blast-out of Masamichi Yabuki, avenging his lone defeat – things aren’t getting any easier for the so-called “Amazing Boy.” In his last three fights, which include a hard-earned majority decision over Carlos Canizales, he answered the bell for 35 rounds.
By and large, fighters in his weight class don’t age well. While Teraji is starting to slip, he has no intention of retiring any time soon. His goal, he says is to unify the title and eventually move up a notch to pursue a world title in a third weight class. The other pieces of the 112-pound title are currently the property of Mexico’s Angel Ayala who defends his IBF diadem against Yabuki later this month and LA’s Anthony Olascuaga who was in action on tonight’s undercard.
Other Bouts of Note
Olascuaga, a stablemate of Junto Nakatani, trained by 2024 TSS Trainer of the Year Rudy Hernandez, advanced to 9-1 (6) with a hard-earned unanimous decision over Hiroto Kyoguchi. The judges had it 118-110 and 117-111 (scores condemned as too wide) with the third judge having it 6-6 in rounds but scoring it 114-113 in acknowledgement of the knockdown credited to Olascuaga in round 11, the result of a short left that produced a delayed reaction.
Olascuaga was making the second defense of his WBO belt in his fifth straight trip to Japan. In his lone defeat, he was thrust against the formidable Teraji as a late sub, acquitting himself well in defeat (L TKO 9) despite having only five pro fights under his belt and having only 10 days to prepare. Kyoguchi (19-3) had previously held titles in the sport’s two smallest weight classes.
In a big upset, Puerto Rico’s Rene Santiago, thought to be well past his prime at age 32, wrested the WBO light flyweight title with a unanimous decision over Shokichi Iwata who was making the first defense of the title he won with a third-round stoppage of Spain’s previously undefeated Jairo Noriega. Tokyo’s Iwata was a consensus 9/1 favorite.
Santiago, who advanced to 14-4 (9), won by scores of 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112. It was the second loss for Iwata who had knocked out 11 of his first 15 opponents.
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Results and Recaps from Madison Square Garden where Keyshawn Davis KO’d Berinchyk
-
Featured Articles2 weeks ago
Lamont Roach holds Tank Davis to a Draw in Brooklyn
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Greg Haugen (1960-2025) was Tougher than the Toughest Tijuana Taxi Driver
-
Featured Articles2 weeks ago
Gene Hackman’s Involvement in Boxing Went Deeper than that of a Casual Fan
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
The Hauser Report: Keyshawn Davis at Madison Square Garden
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Lucas Bahdi Paid His Dues, Quite Literally, and Now his Boxing Career is Flourishing
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
The Hauser Report — Riyadh Season and Sony Hall: Very Big and Very Small
-
Featured Articles7 days ago
Friday Boxing Recaps: Observations on Conlan, Eubank, Bahdi, and David Jimenez