By Rick Reeno

The final pay per view of the year. Vitali Klitschko gets challenged by the man who crushed his dream of fighting Mike Tyson, Danny Williams of the UK. The bout takes place live at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on December 11, 2004, you can catch all the action live on pay per view television. Many questions will be answered in this meeting of heavyweight giants. Did Williams really become a new man by beating Mike Tyson? Is Vitali ready for a another fight that could turn out to be a war like replica of his meeting with Corrie Sanders? Does either fighter have the stamina to make the fight exciting if it goes into the late rounds? If Williams wins, is he now "the man" at heavyweight?

Vitali last saw a fight go the distance in 2000 when he decisioned Timo Hoffman, this fight is not going the distance by any means. Danny Williams lost a 12 round decision earlier this year to Michael Sprott.

Don't miss the BoxingScene, Round by Round coverage of the Klitschko-Williams pay per view on Saturday night, December 11, 2004. Coverage starts at 9PM eastern standard time.

The Staff of BoxingScene drops their predictions for the upcoming heavyweight showdown.

Richard McManus
Klitschko over Williams by 5th Round KO. Vitali will use the huge height and reach advantage and his toughness to knock out the high riding Williams in 5.  Williams might have some good moments early but won't be able to get inside to do real damage.

Ja Lang G. Greene
Klitshcko by KO in 3. On PPV? Don't bother getting up to get your popcorn! It will be over quickly. This fight reminds me of Tyson - Bruno. A train wreck waiting to happen. Choo - Choo.

Jose Villegas
Vitali Klitschko KO in 5. I think this is an easy fight to call. Williams is a bum who hit the lottery when Tyson blew out his knee. If this fight was made before Williams fought Tyson what would people be saying about it? They would be saying it was an awful mismatch that's what they would be saying. Lets not try and act like Williams was doing great in that Tyson fight either because he was being beaten and beaten badly before Tyson suffered the injury. Klitschko will blow him out of the water just like he did Kirk Johnson. In my opinion the only suspense will be to see what kind of PPV numbers Klitschko pulls. Klitschko is just the better fighter plain and simple.

David Sauvage
Vitali, to my mind, is a phony. I agree with Lewis that in their fight, he was a round or two from collapsing. And I was in Madison Square Garden to watch Vitali beat up a stale and crusty Kirk Johnson -- who looked only slightly less bloated than Corrie Sanders did a few months later. Against Sanders, by the way, Vitali actually looked scared. Every time Sanders threw a punch that meant something, Vitali curled up his lip as if to say, "Oh God, I can get hurt in here."

And get hurt he will. It's only a matter of time. Unfortunately he's picked out the biggest name with the smallest risk. Even so, Danny Williams seems to mean business. That should be more than enough. Danny KO Vitali Round 4. Kindy remember that I called it.

Tom Donelson
Danny Williams had his fifteen minutes of fame. He beat a one legged old fighter and nearly got knocked out in the first round. He is facing the best Heavyweight, who will not tire of hitting him.

As my good friend Frank Lotierzo tells me, Vitali fights like a big man and uses his size to an advantage.  Williams has to penetrate a hard jab followed by a hard right. A few rounds of this and Williams will be saying bye-bye.  Williams is a good story but on December 11th, Midnight strikes and reality hits. Vitali by KO.

Matteo Alderson
I like Kiltschko early before the sixth round. Kirk Johnson is about on par with Williams and Kiltschko anihilated him. Also except for the Tyson fight look at Danny's track record, he got knocked out by Sinan Samil Sam.

Dave Wilcox
Don't believe the hype of Danny Williams. Who cares if he beat Tyson, the truth is most guys could do the same at this point of Tyson's "career". Klitschko will do a number on Danny Boy. He will keep Williams at a distance with his strong, straight punches. Look for a one sided fight with Klitschko prevailing by TKO by round 7.

Frank Lotierzo
Just as I didn't rate Buster Douglas off of him beating Mike Tyson, I won't gauge Danny Williams based solely on him stopping a rusty 38 year old Tyson. After Douglas beat Tyson, everyone started raving about his size and reach and what a good boxer he was. Now the talk is Williams doesn't harbor self doubt like he used to, and  he's really a Holyfield type warrior.

I'll use the same formula I used to pick Douglas-Holyfield. Had Douglas fought Holyfield the night he fought Tyson, who would I pick. Obviously Holyfield. So am I now going to pick Douglas because he beat Tyson? No! Same thing here. If Williams was fighting Klitschko the night he fought Tyson, who would I pick? Without reservation Klitschko. Am I going to now pick Williams because he beat a washed up Tyson? No. I'll take my chances with Klitschko.

Jim Amato
Maybe Danny Wiliams will spring an upset. ANYTHING can happen when two big heavyweights get together. Based on what Williams showed even in victory over Tyson did not impress me. Tyson was kicking his butt up until Mike's knee gave out. Williams DID NOT deserve this crack at the title based on his past record or his win over an aging Tyson.

If Vitali is on his game I see no reason for him not to make a successful defense of his heavyweight crown. Then let's get into a possible unification of the title. I propose a John Ruiz-Chris Byrd, WBA-IBF pairing. Then match WBC Champion Vitali Klitschko with WBO claimant Lamon Brewster. Then let the winners fight each other for the unified title. Then if James Toney is still around holding IBA title, let the unified winner meet him to clear up any disputes.

Oh what a wonderful world it could be. ONE Heavyweight Champion !

Jacqueline Richardson of the Retired Boxers Foundation
I think that Klitschko is already preparing excuses for what he knows will be a tough fight.  Williams got over whatever insecurity he was noted for before the fight with Tyson.  He took a lot of shots from Tyson and he held his ground.  Klitschko is hyping the political scene in the Ukraine as a distraction from training for this fight. Klitschko wins if Williams buys the hype and if he is overly confident. This will be a fight between two big heavyweights and the first one to land the big shot wins.  It could be Lewis-Rahman all over again--either one or two.  I call this an even fight and luck will replace skill to determine the winner.

Mike Indri
While I don't think that either Klitschko are much to talk about I don't see how Williams is justified in a world title fight by beating a finished Mike Tyson. 

After a few rounds I see Vitali stopping Williams. Klitschko TKO 5-6 rounds over Williams

Ike Enwereuzor
My pick is simple, I think we may see an upset. Danny Williams seems to have his head together, he had more time to prepare for this fight than his fight with Tyson. If he keeps his hunger, Klitschko will get KO'd in 8 rounds.

Dave Selwyn
Klitschko by KO. One fight does not make a fighter. Take a good look at Danny William's record. Danny is a journeyman. In 2003 he was knocked out by Sinam Samil Sam. If Williams did not beat a way out of his prime Tyson, he would not be on the radar screen in the heavyweight divison.  I don't Know anybody who would pay to see this Fight. Vitali is a huge monster who should use  his size and strength to his advantage and KO  Williams

Rusty Rubin
Judging from talking with my friends in the UK, they were more stunned than anyone when Williams beat Tyson. In truth, he was taking a beating from Mike, until Mike became a one-legged fighter....Unless Williams gets an amazing confidence boost out of beating a man with one leg, Klitschko is the easy winner here. I look for a stoppage midway.

Sammy Rozenberg
No contest here, Klitschko with an easy 3 round KO win. Klitschko will use his height and potshot Danny at will. The first time Danny gets caught is when the fight will be over.

James Blears
As it appears to be the year of the upset, I'm going for Williams to win this one. He underwent a profound change defeating Mike Tyson, absorbing some murderous punishment and then coming back firing on all cylinders. He believes in himself as never before, and this combined with some latent, and now flourishing natural talent should be an important factor.

One punch can change everything, especially in the heavyweight arena. Was Danny William's KO defeat of Mike Tyson, just a one fight wonder? We're soon going to find out. I'm sure Danny is all too well aware this is his one and only chance to grab the glittering prize. Although he's a 3-1 underdog, I feel Danny will pull of another shock win, with hostilities being halted around the eighth due to Vitali getting badly cut up...again.

Rick Reeno
I have never been so sure of a fight winner in my life. Williams stands no chance in my mind. He can't take a hard punch and Vitali will be able to withstand any punches that Williams will land. Danny could not take the hard shots of Samil Sam. Sam is not known as that big of a hitter and was unable to knockout Juan Carlos Gomez with his best shots.

Williams has never given me the impression of a fighter with a good defense and Vitali will put out the lights quick if Danny Boy keeps his hands low. This fight is a replica of Lennox Lewis-Michael Grant. Grant thrown to the wolves when he was matched with Lewis and this is the same scenario.

Grant won the biggest fight of his career prior to the Lewis bout on a freak occurrence when Golota, well ahead on the scorecards, just quit after being dropped. Grant was nearly knocked out in the first round and barely made it out. HBO saw that this was the time to get Grant in there with Lewis to make Lewis look good with a strong KO.

The same situation here. Williams won his last fight, the biggest fight of his career on a freak occurrence. Tyson, ahead on points, simply stayed down after being dropped by Williams. Tyson blew out his knee in round one and was unable to continue. Williams was almost knocked out by Tyson in the first round and barely made it out of the round. HBO sensed that Williams may get knocked off in his next fight and jumped on matching him with Vitali. It's like a pure flashback of Lewis-Grant. HBO is throwing Danny to the wolves this time in order to give Vitali a monster KO to make him look good. At the same time, HBO is testing the water with Vitali's marketability on Pay Per View.

Klitschko by KO within 6.