Williams
Destroys Quintana in One
Paul
Williams had a point to prove this past Saturday, June 7. In the wake of
his first professional loss to Carlos
Quintana, Williams has been called an overrated, defenseless, light
punching welterweight.
As he gingerly walked to the ring, this time
accompanied by James Brown’s “The Big Payback,” Paul Williams knew this
performance would determine the difference between potential future
superstardom and relative obscurity.
It only took two minutes and 15 seconds for Williams
to solidify his future. Showing great accuracy and power, Paul Williams overwhelmed
Carlos Quintana for a TKO stoppage in round one.
The bout began with Quintana looking to pick up
from the last fight. He feinted well early in the round and was able to catch
Williams with a few sneaky right hooks and straight lefts. However, this time
Williams utilized his height and didn’t laboriously follow Quintana around the
ring. The Punisher kept Quintana at the end of this jab, and forced his smaller
opponent to leap forward, giving Williams the openings he needed to fire back.
The best opening came at the 1:33 mark, as
Williams followed up a stiff jab with a hard straight left. The shot smashed
into the side of Quintana’s head, and the Puerto Rican champion was stunned
badly by the punch. Quintana immediately attempted to hold, but Williams showed
great presence of mind to take a step back and rain down short hooks on the
inside that further wobbled the already unsteady legs of the champion.
Realizing he was getting chopped up on the inside,
Quintana sought to retreat, but made the mistake of going straight back right
into the range of Williams’ long left hand. With another straight left on the
button, Quintana crumpled to the canvas with 1:18 left in the round.
Stumbling to his feet at the count of four, Quintana
raised his hands to show he wasn’t hurt, but the champion was clearly out of it
and just a few precise shots away from going out.
Williams kept his distance and again
discombobulated Quintana with another long straight left behind two jabs. The champion
went crashing into the corner. Not done, Williams punished Quintana with more
short hooks in the inside and knocked Quintana to the far side of the ring with
three successive straight lefts. The referee had seen enough, and stopped the
contest as Quintana tackled Williams to avoid more punishment with 0:46 seconds
left in the round.
With the win, Paul Williams regains his WBO title
and improves his record to 34-1 (25 KOs) while Carlos Quintana falls to 25-2
(19 KOs).
This was an awesome win for Paul Williams, and he
completely redeems his name in the welterweight division. Last week I stated he
needed to punch hard and fight tall to win, but I never suspected Williams
could generate that much power behind his shots. Also, Williams was very
patient and did not get flustered when Quintana caught him flush early on. For
one night at least, the Tommy Hearns
comparison made sense.
In the post fight interview, Williams stated he
would like to rematch Margarito,
face Cotto, or replace Mayweather against De La Hoya in September. Of course, the De La Hoya fight is
unlikely, but Williams would be a great opponent for the Cotto-Margarito winner
if Money May decides to let this second “retirement” in 2 years stick.
Paul
Williams vs. Carlos Quintana II
HBO Highlights
Juan Manuel
Lopez Puts Division on Notice after Ponce de Leon Destruction
Those who picked slugger Daniel Ponce de Leon over Juan
Manuel Lopez
pointed out that the former’s experience, natural strength,and toughness would be too much for the young challenger.
Someone forgot to tell Lopez this theory. With
shocking ease, Juan Manuel Lopez took apart battle tested Daniel Ponce de Leon
to win the WBO Super Bantamweight title with a 1st round TKO.
Ponce de Leon started fast, rushing his young
challenger with hard but wild swinging hooks on the inside. Despite being
roughed up early, Lopez remained patient, coolly circling Ponce de Leon and
gauging distance with the jab for his own eventual assaults.
Lopez used his opponent’s aggression against him
by freezing Ponce de Leon with a straight left before dropping him with a
compact right hook in the inside. The prideful Ponce de Leon got up immediately
but was badly hurt, evidenced by his hard blinking and jerky movement.
Lopez gave Ponce de Leon no distance to recover as
another short right hook knocked the champion into the ropes. Cornered, the
rugged Ponce de Leon began brawling in a desperate attempt to get Lopez off of
him. However, the weakened Ponce de Leon could not compete, and Lopez ended the
evening with another crushing right hook knockdown for a first round stoppage.
With the win, Juan Manuel Lopez improves to 22-0
(20 KOs) and picks up the WBO Bantamweight title, while Daniel Ponce de Leon
falls to 34-2 (30 KOs).
In a division dominated by the wars between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez, Juan Manuel Lopez stakes his claim as the best
young fighter in the weight class. Lopez would hold a big advantage over
Marquez (who is not a natural bantamweight), but an Israel Vazquez matchup
would be a 50-50 fight. Keep in mind that we have no idea what either Vazquez
or Marquez have left after three successive brutal fights.
Pavlik
Breezes Through First Middleweight Defense
With boxing hard up for American stars and the
UFC booming, HBO made sure to depict new
middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik as an everyman from the heartland of America.
While promotion is a cornerstone of boxing, Pavlik’s success is built on what
the Youngstown native does in the ring. Pavlik gave us another example this
past Saturday, as he steamrolled Gary
Lockett in three entertaining but mostly one-sided rounds.
In round one, both men tested each other by
trading bombs toe to toe. The main difference early on is that Pavlik proved to
be sturdier as he walked through Lockett’s shots and wobbled the challenger
with a cluster of right hand shots to the head and body. Not ready to pack it
in, Lockett temporarily backed Pavlik off with a good left hook to the body to
end the round.
Round two saw Pavlik mix up his attack to the head
and body with both hands. After hurting Lockett with a right to the body,
Pavlik crashed home a straight right which forced the challenger to take a
knee. Later in the round, Lockett succumbed to the power of Pavlik’s right hand
again, this time off a counter.
By round three, it was just a matter of time.
Lockett gamely pressed forward but Pavlik was not affected by the challenger’s
punching power. Pavlik continued working the right hand to the head and body,
and after Lockett took another knee the bout was called off by Lockett’s
trainer.
As expected, Pavlik dominated and has set the
stage for a potential showdown with Joe
Calzaghe. With trainers Enzo Calzaghe
(who trained Gary Lockett for this fight) and Jack Loew already jawing back and forth, this fight is likely
already a done deal.
Mora Wins
First Title
For years, participants of the reality boxing show
The Contender have had to hear that
they weren’t legitimate top tier fighters. The evidence was in the one sided
losses of Contender stars against fighters like Miguel Cotto, Joe Calzaghe
and Oscar De La Hoya. To many, Sergio Mora’s attempt at a title
against veteran Vernon Forrest was
just another example in a line of many.
Count the “Latin Snake” as the exception to the
rule, as he outworked a more skilled opponent in Vernon Forrest to win the WBC
154lb title.
Through the first four rounds the action was
sporadic as both men could not find a rhythm against each other. Forrest was
routinely off balance when his right hand missed, while Mora was content to
throw short flurries only when he was hit. Both fighters were booed for
constant mauling, however Forrest held the advantage early due to clean punching.
The tide turned in the sixth round after Mora
bullied Forrest with flurries of hooks on the inside, particularly to the body.
Forrest looked uncomfortable and tired as Mora continued working and coming
forward.
Mora carried the momentum in the seventh and
eighth, working the body as Forrest appeared listless and was content to
deflect attacks only by holding. His trainer Buddy McGirt implored Forrest to throw punches and reestablish the
jab as the championship rounds loomed.
Round nine was big for Mora as both men began
brawling. Mora got the better of the exchanges with his shorter hooks, while
Forrest could not get the leverage he needed with Mora’s head dead in his
chest. At the end of the round, Mora made a point to stare down a completely
dejected Forrest.
Mora won the championship rounds, even out jabbing
Forrest in the tenth and eleventh. In the final round Mora played it safe until
the last 20 seconds, where he engaged Forrest and caught a flush right hand for
his trouble. Undeterred, Mora fired back and barked at Forrest “and new
champion!” as the final bell sounded.
Scorecards read 115-113, 116-112, and 114-114 for
Mora, who improves to 21-0 (5 KOs). Vernon Forrest falls to 40-3 (29 KOs).
Sergio
Mora claimed before last Saturday that Vernon Forrest was the perfect opponent
for him. Obviously, he saw things that the majority of fight fans didn’t. Many
expected Forrest to control Mora with his jab, but that weapon was non-existent
for this fight. Also, Mora dedicated himself to working the body and that paid
dividends in the later rounds as Forrest’s punches had nothing on them. While
it wasn’t pretty at times, this is a great win for Mora who can now discard the
“Contender fighter” tag.
Evander
Holyfield Mansion Set for Foreclosure
In unfortunate news, former three time heavyweight
champion Evander Holyfield is set to
lose his home to foreclosure.
Legal documents from Fayette County down in
Georgia show that the mansion is set for a July 1 foreclosure.
In Georgia there is no redemption period on foreclosure, which means if the
July 1 sale goes through, Holyfield will not have the chance to come up with
the approximately $644,000 owed payments to save the property.
To add on to his troubles, the former champ is
also behind on child support payments to the amount of $6,000 (he has 11 children) as
reported last week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Forbes also reported another pending situation in Utah, where Holyfield apparently owes another $550,000 for loans for landscaping the Atlanta home.
For his part, Holyfield informed The Associated Press on June
7 that the property situation has been taken care of, and the home will not be
foreclosed on. The 54, 000 square foot mansion has 109 rooms, 17 bathrooms,
three kitchens and a bowling alley.
Floyd
Mayweather Retires…Again
In an abrupt end to his rematch negotiations with Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather announced his second retirement from the world of
boxing on June 6. Below is the letter which was sent to media:
Dear Media:
It is with a heavy heart that I write you this message today. I have decided to
permanently retire from boxing. This decision was not an easy one for me to
make as boxing is all I have done since I was a child. However, these past few
years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to
continue in the sport.
I have said numerous times and after several of my fights over the past two
years that I might not fight again. At the same time, I loved competing and
winning and also wanted to continue my career for the fans, knowing they were
there for me and enjoyed watching me fight. However, after many sleepless
nights and intense soul-searching I realized I could no longer base my decision
on anything but my own personal happiness, which I no longer could find. So I
have finally made up my mind, spoken to my family, particularly my mother, and
made my decision.
I am sorry I have to leave the sport at this time, knowing I still have my
God-given abilities to succeed and future multi-million dollar paydays ahead,
including the one right around the corner. But there comes a time when money
doesn’t matter. I just can’t do it anymore. I have found a peace with my
decision that I have not felt in a long time.
Finally, I want to personally thank all of my fans for their loyalty and
dedication as my career comes to a close. I always believed that their enthusiasm
and support helped carry me to victory with every fight I ever had.
It was a great joy to have fought for all of you. Now I hope you understand my
decision and wish me well with the rest of my life.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
A few weeks back I compared Mayweather’s antics
towards Cotto with how Sugar Ray Leonard appeared to brush off
Tommy Hearns to build anticipation
for their eventual showdown (Sugar
Ray…Mayweather? ). Little did anyone know that Mayweather would now start
to mimic the countless “retirements” Ray Leonard pulled throughout the 80’s.
This retirement may be a negotiating tactic aimed
at forcing De La Hoya to offer more
money for the rematch. There has been a rumor that Mayweather was asking for a
50-50 split. Unfortunately for Mayweather, De La Hoya can make money with
anyone (although not at much), and can also have guaranteed victories against
smaller opponents like Ricky Hatton
or Manny Pacquaio.
The second possibility is that Mayweather may be
banking on a Cotto win to ensure a huge money fight early next year. If Cotto
wins decisively against Margarito,
the hype would be insane for Mayweather to come out of “retirement” and face
the new champion.
Time will tell the reason. But the fact that there
wasn’t a press conference leads me to believe Mayweather is just playing hardball
at the negotiation table.
Throwback
Fighter of the Week: Gerald McClellan
There are many “what could have been” stories in
boxing, but none may be as tragic as Gerald
McClellan’s.
Trained by Emmanuel
Steward, McClellan tore through the middleweight ranks after suffering two
points losses very early in his career. He picked up his first title by
dismantling John Mugabi in one
round. He went on to score two dominating knockouts over all time pound for
pound puncher Julian Jackson.
Moving up to super-middleweight, he faced feared
puncher Nigel Benn in a highly
anticipated showdown. There was much animosity, as McClellan vowed to expose
Benn as another overhyped European fighter.
The fight lived up to it’s billing with McClellan
almost winning after knocking Benn through the ropes in the first round.
However, Benn fought back and the contest became more brutal with fouls
(particularly rabbit punching) as the fight wore on. After taking a knee in the
10th following a Benn uppercut, McClellan was blinking hard and
appeared glassy eyed as the ref counted him out.
After collapsing in the corner, it was discovered
McClellan had suffered a blood clot on his brain. After regaining consciousness
from a coma, he has suffered brain damage and can no longer see, walk, and is
80% deaf.
The bout has scarred Nigel Benn mentally, but
recently he met with McClellan and raised funds to help with his rising medical
expenses.
For those willing to contribute, you can do so at www.geraldmcclellan.com
McClellan
Highlights
McClellan
Today
Nigel Benn
Speaking on McClellan
