Prince Charles Williams

[taansend]

Anyone remember this fighter?

A Hearns-Lite if you like. But not as big a boxer or puncher so probably had even more wars.

Turned pro at 16 - with a loss - & was 12-4-2 at one point. Then something clicked & he went on a mad streak stopping the TV favourite Booby Czyz to pick up the IBF Light Heavy title & defended that 8 times (mainly on the road) before getting outboxed by Henry Maske in Germany (I was at Maske's debut fight on the undercard of a Kirkland Laing bout). By that time he had won 22 straight.

Excellent fighter to watch & was regularly shown on British TV back in the late 80's.

Wonder how he's doing now?

[TBear]

I watched "Prince" Charles come up. He was a good all around fighter and pretty entertaining as well. After winning the title he became a road warrior.
There was alot of hype for a tourney for him, Moorer, Virgil Hill and Andries to unify the titles but it never happened. I even remember Williams and Moorer sharing a card on the USA network and all four were on hand at it to promote interest. But that's as far as it went..

[BennyST]

Yep, he had some great fights. The first thing that pops into my head though is that brutal Toney KO. Ouch.

[BattlingNelson]

Yep, he had some great fights. The first thing that pops into my head though is that brutal Toney KO. Ouch.

Well to me it's the first Czyz fight that pops into my mind. A big underdog to the popular well spoken Czyz. Williams completely outboxed and outpunched him which was a sheer joy. I remember how Czyz wore some big-ass sunglasses at the postfightinterview, and I noticed how his face was so swollen that he couldn't really have them on.

Williams was a big favorite of mine. A real old school character, that despite losses made it big with hard work and dedication.

And that first Czyz fight was a great one.

[greynotsoold]

I watched that fight, the night it happened, at LaCasita restaurant, in Ontario, CA. At the next table was former bantam champ Richie Sandoval, his brother Alberto, a top 10 contender himself, and their father. Alberto was training a friend of mine at the time. He was hiding and trying not to be noticed as he drank his (3rd or 4th) large draft beer of the evening.
I had totally forgotten that 2nd round knockdown, but I remembered Williams suddenly coming back with those uppercuts. That was a long time ago.

[taansend]

Thanks lads. always nice to hear over peoples memories rather than just rereading or watching. Wasn't the knockout of Williams by Toney the one where his body bent back like a banana? Must have been hard for Williams to get down in weight. Ironic really when you consider Toney's later struggles.

Czyz was considered a bit of a Golden Boy at the time. Is he still doing any commentary?

[greynotsoold]

Czyz had a pretty good career, a pretty good fighter, i guess, for his era. My favorite story about him was when he was cruiserweight champ, and Orlin Norris was ranked number 1, but Czyz was supposed to fight Hearns instead.
Supposedly, Czyz and Norris ran into each other and norris called Czyz a coward. Czyz explained that he was being offered $50,000 to fight Norris, but $1.5 million to fight Hearns. He went on to say that, as long as there was $1.5 million on the table, he was afraid of 50 grands worth of norris. But that if they paid him 1.5 million to fight norris, that fear would vanish.
That, to me, sums up boxing. If the price is right and the money is there (which it wasn't in the above example, as neither fight ever happened) these guys would fight a bear.

[taansend]

Czyz had a pretty good career, a pretty good fighter, i guess, for his era. My favorite story about him was when he was cruiserweight champ, and Orlin Norris was ranked number 1, but Czyz was supposed to fight Hearns instead.
Supposedly, Czyz and Norris ran into each other and norris called Czyz a coward. Czyz explained that he was being offered $50,000 to fight Norris, but $1.5 million to fight Hearns. He went on to say that, as long as there was $1.5 million on the table, he was afraid of 50 grands worth of norris. But that if they paid him 1.5 million to fight norris, that fear would vanish.
That, to me, sums up boxing. If the price is right and the money is there (which it wasn't in the above example, as neither fight ever happened) these guys would fight a bear.

Great story.

[Scott9945]

Czyz was considered a bit of a Golden Boy at the time. Is he still doing any commentary?

Czyz has had issues with gambling and liquor (multiple DUI's). Showtime apparently chose not to forgive him for that. Or maybe they weren't thrilled with his commentary either. Czyz may be doing independent PPV's occasionally.

[Anthony342]

Speaking of tournaments to unify titles, why aren't those done more often? Or why are titles not unified more often these days? Is there really more money for the fighter to not unify?