by David P. Greisman
The hunter will often become the hunted. Not so for Paul Williams. The Punisher is being punished.
The welterweight division is flourishing. Many of the biggest superstars of the past decade now labor at and around the 147-pound limit. They have been joined by a crop of young prospects looking to reach new heights and a group of veterans hoping to prevent their fall.
Champion Floyd Mayweather will take on Oscar De La Hoya once more. Miguel Cotto is scheduled to defend his title against Alfonso Gomez. And should Cotto come out victorious, he is expected to face the winner of the rematch between beltholder Kermit Cintron and Antonio Margarito.
Williams is the odd man out.
A year ago he was largely untested and largely unproven. He was a curiosity, an undefeated six-foot southpaw whose punch output proved to be just as massively overwhelming as his size. He was the number one contender to Margarito’s World Boxing Organization title, the top challenger to a fighter few would face.
Williams won, proving himself against a veteran who tested him down the stretch. But seven months later, all he has done is take Margarito’s place.
“In some ways I feel good, but when I hear guys don’t want to fight me I feel bad,” Williams said last month. “How can they call themselves world champions or top contenders and be afraid to fight me?
“Guys don’t want to get in the ring with me because they know they are going to have to fight,” he said. “They know that I’m not going to be showboating for the camera. I am going to fight and fight for the whole three minutes of every round. They don’t want to fight someone like that.”
Williams will instead face off this Saturday against Carlos Quintana. But it wasn’t originally supposed to be that way.
Williams had been slated for a Feb. 2 fight with Kermit Cintron, a unification bout pitting a pair of young, hungry welterweights against each other. But Cintron suffered ligament damage in his right hand during a voluntary defense against upstart journeyman the day after Thanksgiving. Any bout between the two would have to come later – if at all.
Williams’ camp looked for a replacement. Cintron, meanwhile, signed for an April match-up against Margarito. Cintron has been given an opportunity to exact revenge over the man who destroyed him nearly three years ago. That’s of absolutely no consolation to Williams.
“He’s looking for a lifeline,” Williams said of Cintron in a recent interview with BoxingScene editor-in-chief Rick Reeno. “He still had an opportunity to fight me on Feb. 9. He said he wants to unify the titles. Margarito has no title. He doesn’t want to unify the titles. He had the hand flu and his hand flu is just about over. What’s his next excuse?”
Williams’ Feb. 2 date got moved to Feb. 9. An opponent was found in 24-1 welterweight contender Carlos Quintana. But even Quintana didn’t come easily, reportedly holding out for more money before eventually signing on the proverbial dotted line.
The hunter will eventually become the hunted. But that can’t happen until someone is willing to take a shot.
The 10 Count
1. Amir Khan came off of his last career-best win to score his newest greatest victory to date, outpointing Gairy St. Clair over 12 rounds in London. All three judges saw the bout 120-108 in favor of Khan.
Khan, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, is apparently being groomed for greatness. Just 16 fights into his career, he has taken out second-tier lightweight Graham Earl in less than one round and defeated a former 130-pound beltholder in St. Clair.
Khan is already main evening in the United Kingdom. How soon until he shares the marquee with another top talent?
2. Corrie Sanders’ ill-fated comeback ended dismally Saturday in South Africa, with the 42-year-old former heavyweight titlist getting counted out, reportedly on a left hook to the body, just one round into his bout with Osborne Machimana.
Sanders punched himself into prominence in 2003 with a surprising second-round destruction of Wladimir Klitschko. Any joy, however, was short lived. Sanders wouldn’t appear again for 13 months, returning to a brutal beat-down at the hands of Wladimir’s older brother, Vitali. Sanders fought once more in ’04 before retiring.
He got back in the ring 23 months later, scoring a second-round technical knockout of Colin Wilson and then outpointing Daniel Bispo in May 2007. But his weight – 258 pounds against Wilson, 243 against Bispo, 239 against Machimana – never approached the 225 pounds he carried against Wladimir Klitschko. Instead, his body resembled that of the avid golfer Sanders had become in recent years. The out-of-shape midsection provided an inviting target to Sanders’ opponent, and Machimana made sure to hit a hole in one.
3. Boxers Behaving Badly, part one: Super middleweight prospect Anthony Dirrell was released from custody last week after police detained him in connection with an armed robbery at a bank in Flint, Mich., according to the Flint Journal.
Police said a man walked into the bank, showed that he had a gun and demanded cash. After leaving the bank, the man, according to witnesses, jumped into an arriving car. Police said they found the car later that day, a Dodge Charger with Dirrell in the driver’s seat. A handgun was also in the car, authorities said. It is unclear at the time whether police believe Dirrell was the man in the bank. Dirrell’s family says this is a case of mistaken identity.
Dirrell, 23, turned pro in early 2005, winning 12 straight bouts, all but one by way of knockout. His last appearance was in December 2006, a first-round stoppage of 3-6 opponent James Hopkins. Since then, Dirrell has been inactive, taking time away from the sport to instead battle a form of cancer known as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Dirrell’s older brother, Andre, is also a professional boxer, a super middleweight with a 14-0 (9) record.
4. Boxers Behaving Badly, part two: Tim Austin is facing domestic violence charges after a Jan. 26 incident in which the former 118-pound titlist allegedly kicked his wife in the head and punched her repeatedly, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Austin turned pro in 1993 after capturing a bronze medal at the previous year’s Olympics. He picked up the International Boxing Federation bantamweight belt in 1997, defending it successfully nine times before losing to Rafael Marquez in 2003 via eighth-round technical knockout. After a 31-month sabbatical, Austin returned, winning twice before making his final appearance in the ring in April 2006, a sixth-round stoppage loss to featherweight Eric Aiken.
Austin was acquitted in 2004 on rape charges.
5. Boxers Behaving Badly, part three: Former women’s welterweight champion Margie Dunson pleaded guilty late last month to three misdemeanor charges stemming from a February 2007 incident that initially saw the 57-year-old Maine resident on trial for elevated aggravated assault.
Dunson was facing up to 20 years in prison for allegedly stabbing a male guest in the chest during an argument while the two were watching last year’s Super Bowl at her home. The victim, however, was apparently under the influence of alcohol when he arrived in court to testify, and another witness never showed.
The prosecution dropped the felony charge, and Dunson’s plea deal included a sentence of the four months she had already served in jail.
6. Boxers Behaving Badly, part four: Former amateur boxer Ava Fiore, who went from Golden Gloves champion to posing in adult magazines, was arrested in Nebraska late last month for allegedly smuggling approximately 60 pounds of marijuana in three suitcases inside her car, according to the New York Daily News. The drugs had an estimated value of $50,000.
Fiore was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. She was released on $250,000 bail and is scheduled to return to court on March 26.
Fiore, 27, won a local Golden Gloves title in 2002 in New York City under the name Lynn Mora.
7. Boxers Behaving Badly, part five: Carlton Elijah Tillery was found guilty last week on a charge of second-degree weapon possession relating to an August incident in which the former heavyweight fighter was caught carrying a sawed-off shotgun inside a 3-foot-long toy alligator, according to New York’s Albany Times Union.
Tillery, 50, who went by his middle name in two ignominious performances against Riddick Bowe, was arrested after an unmarked police car saw him speaking with three other people on an Albany street. Police said they heard one person tell Tillery to get his weapon from a car, and out came the toy reptile, which had a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun inside. He had shotgun shells in his pockets, too, authorities said.
Tillery is facing three to 15 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 20.
Tillery was disqualified against Bowe in late 2001 for kicking Bowe in response to a late hit. Bowe’s manager, the infamous Rock Newman, would pull Tillery over the ring ropes and out of the squared circle. Bowe and Tillery fought a rematch six weeks later, which Bowe won via fourth-round technical knockout.
Tillery’s last appearance came in 1993, a sixth-round stoppage loss to James “Bonecrusher” Smith. He retired with a record of 23-7 (15).
8. Boxers Behaving Badly, part six: Club-fighter Jeremy M. Stauffer was arrested last week for an alleged beating that left a man in critical condition, according to the Intelligencer Journal, a Lancaster, Pa., newspaper.
Police say Stauffer, 28, found his former girlfriend, with whom he has two children, inside the victim’s home. Angry, Stauffer allegedly punched the man multiple times in the head and once in the groin. The victim had to be placed on a ventilator after suffering bruising and swelling to his brain and several facial fractures, according to reports. He remained in critical condition as of Jan. 28.
Stauffer has compiled a 6-2-1 record in fights around or slightly above the light heavyweight limit. His last appearance was in March, a first round knockout loss to William Prieto.
Stauffer remained in prison on $50,000 bond as of Jan. 28.
9. Not making the cut: Former welterweight and junior middleweight boxer Kirkland Laing, who recently faced a court case in Britain for, of all things, an orange peel he dropped on the street, according to reports from across the pond. Laing never showed, however, driving up his fines for the offense to a total of nearly 350 pounds.
10. This week’s slate of alleged crimes: armed robbery, domestic violence, aggravated assault, smuggling drugs, having a sawed-off shotgun, beating a man into critical condition… and dropping an orange peel. Way to go, Kirk.
David P. Greisman’s weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com
