By Cliff Rold
The latest version of Boxing’s ‘most feared man’ looked the part on Saturday night at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California. Punishing combination punching and sustained body work from 27-year old former Welterweight titlist Paul Williams (36-1, 27 KO) proved too much for a 39-year old three-time Jr. Middleweight titlist in Verno Phillips (42-11-1, 21 KO) who was otherwise celebrating a birthday, forcing a corner stoppage after round eight in place of a gift.
In doing so, Williams may well have blown out the candles on a long and respectable 20-year career while creating the next opportunity for his own. The bout was contested for an ‘interim’ title at 154 lbs. after Phillips vacated his IBF title to take the fight and creates a mandatory shot at the man who might be the world’s best Jr. Middleweight, WBO titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk (36-0, 22 KO).
Williams weighed in for the bout just below the division limit at 153 ½; Phillips on the mark at 154.
Williams began the bout coming forward, an active left jab setting up consistent right hands. Phillips remained at distance throughout the first three minutes, landing only two hard right hands versus the punches by the dozens output of the younger man. An accidental clash of heads raised a cut over the right eye of Williams but didn’t seem to present an immediate threat.
Round two saw Williams continue to assert his jab but at the halfway point it was veteran moxy that ushered in some serious competition. Looking for openings for his right hand, Phillips found his way inside and began pulling Williams into a war at close quarters. Phillips appeared to rock Williams briefly inside and the closing seconds saw a contested exchange along the ropes favoring the older man.
Phillips continued to look for openings in round three but it was single shots at a time as Williams output overwhelmed. The cut worsened in the round, but so too did the application of lefts and right to Phillips body along with some head jarring left hooks to the head. A brief respite was called to allow the ring doctor to examine the Williams cut, deeming him fit to continue.
Williams settled into a steady rhythm right away in round four, still taking right hands but landing his own rights and lefts with regularity. Phillips attempted to walk Williams into right hands in the fifth, moving backwards and then firing as Williams closed in. As the round wore on it began to resemble the second, Phillips snaking rights and lefts onto Williams chin along with the occasional hard left hook to the body. A Williams right late in the round forced Phillips backwards but the older man planted and stepped forward headed towards the bell.
The story of the fight continued in the sixth, Williams with activity and Phillips loading up. It played out in entertaining fashion in the final twenty seconds as a Williams left hook hurt Phillips. Williams stepped in with a right attempting to further the advantage but Phillips refused to wilt, covering up and then blasting in a left and right just before the bell.
The crowd reacted in the first minute of the seventh as an exchange ended with both men falling into a tackle towards the deck. Phillips spent the better part of a minute afterwards pinned to the ropes as Williams pounded in echoing shots to the ribs and largely blocked right hands. In the final minute, Phillips again found his offense, clipping Williams with rights and lefts while continuing to take the same.
There would be only one more round, played out much as the others had been. Blood still streaming from his right eye, Williams work to the body and head of Phillips, continuing to pile on. In the closing seconds, a Williams right hook whipped Phillips head around and he walked uneasily to his corner. The ring doctor stepped into the Phillips corner and after a series of questions to the fighter called a halt to the bout. It was the first time Williams had been stopped in more than two decades.
It had been a game effort from the veteran but, as is often the case in Boxing, a game better played by the young.
Williams responded to questions about the cut with a shrug, citing it only as evidence that it was “time to go to work.” Asked about the possibility of a rematch with leading Welterweight Antonio Margarito, whom Williams defeated by decision in the summer of 2007, Williams was more than open for a return to the division. “If they sign on the dotted line at 47, you can be sure I’ll be at 47 the day before the weigh-in.”
Williams performance capped off an exciting night for fans which also included wild Heavyweight action to open the television broadcast.
Ultimately, it was three rounds and four knockdowns of wild altogether as 27-year old Chris Arreola (26-0, 23 KO) held off a spirited effort from 29-year Travis Walker (28-2-1, 22 KO), 231, of Houston, Texas. Arreola leaves the ring still highly touted but with renewed questions about his professional dedication. He came into the bout a soft 254 lbs., some fifteen more than his previous HBO outing against Chazz Witherspoon.
Walker began aggressive, jabbing and landing a left hook and right hand to force Arreola to the ropes. Arreola responded with a hard right uppercut. The next hard shots would be all Walker’s. A hard jab set up a series of power shots to the head which wobbled Arreola’s knees along with loose skin on his back and sides. A left hook to the body followed by a right hand furthered Walker’s assault in the closing seconds.
Both men let loose with power shots to start the second but it was a straight right from Walker which paid off best, dropping Arreola to his haunches. It was a wake-up call for the favorite. Arreola got his feet beneath him and used Walker’s aggressiveness against him as the round wore on, eventually blasting through with a hard right to the temple, then another following a glancing left before a last right to the jaw sent Walker to the floor.
Arreola was just getting started. Continuing to thread the defenses of a buzzed Walker, Arreola would turn in the final thirty seconds to a left hook along the ropes followed by another right hand to send Walker towards the canvas for the second time. Walker rose by the count of four, nodding his head to say he was okay and the battle was reengaged. Walker let fly a long right hand to little affect and Arreola responded with a hard left hook, then right hand and two more left hooks. Walker held on as the two men tripped towards the ropes and the bell sounded on a thrilling frame.
Walker’s hopes for any sort of comeback in round three were dashed right away. Luring Walker into another wild exchange, Arreola delivered a crushing left hook, launching his foe towards the ring turnbuckle and prompting the referee to leap in right away to wave off the action. The official time was :13 seconds of round three. Arreola advanced to a #2 ranking by the IBF whose current titlist Wladimir Klitschko rates as perhaps the division’s best.
Discussing the knockdown, Arreola honestly assessed that, “I just got caught man…he was a strong guy and I felt him right away.” He was just as frank in discussing the bouts final blow. “Left hook right on the button. I thought it was beautiful.” Arreola addressed the Klitschko question by saying he’d need to be ready, “ready meaning in better shape.” The enthusiastic crowd reaction to the Southern California native and dearth of American Heavyweights could mean being ready sooner than later.
The televised card was carried live in the U.S. on HBO, promoted by Goosen Tutor Promotions.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com