Both men were sharp in the early seconds of the bout, Williams throwing his right jab in combination but often finding the gloves of Wright while Wright was able to connect clean with his jab and right hook.  The difficult Wright defense left room only for the occasional hook to the body as Williams’ uppercuts and hooks bounced repeatedly off of leather.

Both men began with their jabs in the second and thirty seconds in Wright scored with another right hook.  Williams responded with a right to the body and overhand left, continuing to move his hands as Wright looked to ride the storm.  Williams split the guard with two jabs before circling way to his right, Wright slinging a connecting left cross when they got close again.  Wright landed a hook to the body and muffled a returning right uppercut and stayed to the body down the stretch, blocking what he could while landing a left and right in the final ten seconds.

The younger man continued to set a blistering pace in the third, even as he received a second warning for holding and hitting from referee Joe Cortez.  Wright landed a hard left cross to get the crowd’s attention near the midway point of the round and continued to block more than he was taking flush but Williams volume of shots left the impression of control.

The action slowed just a smidge in the first minute of the fourth but then Williams began to move his hands again, rolling shots into the belly of Wright near the ropes.  Flipping the jab and turning constantly, Williams worked downstairs when the actions was back at mid-ring, absorbing a right and left to little affect. 

A growing swelling beneath his right eye, Wright looked for power shots early in the fifth and found some hard lefts only to find Williams spurred again to streaming offense.  A long left for Williams landed high on Wright’s head at the midway point and, in the final minute, landed a hook at distance.  Wright nailed Williams with a left in the final twenty seconds, and then a left and right, before heading back to the corner.

Slipping Wright’s best efforts to start the sixth, Williams used his jab to set up a pair of echoing body shots.  Wright responded with a right hook at a minute in and Williams respectfully stepped back to reset his offense.  In close quarters, Williams snaked a right uppercut through the guard while Wright worked the ribs.  A left and right hook for Williams found their way around the gloves and onto the sides of Wright’s head before a final minute marked by what at that point was a growing number of clinches and grapples.

Bouncing on his toes, Williams attempted a pair of long range lefts but Wright blocked both.  A could not stop yet another right uppercut from busting the seam of his guard but through the second minute was landing his jab and another right hook against the younger man.  Blocking the relaxed shots of Williams, Wright scored with a straight left but took a left near the bell as the grueling chess match reached another break in the action.

Wright scored with a pair of jabs at the bell for the eighth and both men landed the stick before Williams exploded with three hard shots to the head.  A right-left landed clean at mid-ring for Williams at the halfway point and while Wright would get a right hook home seconds later, it was Williams tripling his opponent’s output which told the tale.  Wright headed to the corner at the bell with his right eye bruise now coupled to a swelling left eye as well.

A lengthy clinch was the most notable action early in the ninth and Wright’s best punch, a left, missed over the top of a ducking Williams.  With Wright pinned to the ropes, Williams laced him with a left hook among other blows.  Back at mid-ring, Wright was still game, a right-left and then another left landing before a long Williams cross put the older man back on the defensive. 

The final third of the bout kicked off with a near sprint from Williams who charged Wright and let rip with both hands.  A minute in, Williams was on tip-toe with his tongue out, a sign of how one-sided the bout had become.  The taunt was no symbol of impending quit from Wright.  Even as the toll of the Williams offense continued to mount, Wright sought a way out, digging to the body and landing his left and right hands in the final thirty seconds.  Never a puncher, the prayer of a knockout save seemed far-fetched but Wright willed himself forward anyways. 

He found similar futility in the eleventh.

And yet, at the bell for the twelfth, his face bruised and body tired, it was Wright initiating an exciting exchange of blows before the sands of time combined with the speed and aggression of Williams’ gloved fists left him taking shots again.  The final thirty seconds brought the fans to their feet with a flurry of activity from both men.  It was a noble end to Wright’s effort if a losing one. 

The judges confirmed the obvious at 120-108 and 119-109 twice, all in favor of Williams.

Williams, whose previous best victories were a 2007 decision over Antonio Margarito and a 2008 revenge knockout over his lone conqueror Carlos Quintana, celebrated a victory over a formerly prominent pound-for-pound player.  “Winky put up a good fight.  I take my hat off to the man.  He went twelve rounds with me and we warred.  I just overworked him.”

Asked what the win could do for his position in the sport, Williams responded, “It put me up at the top with everybody else.  I proved, I got in there with the best.  Winky is one of the guys no one wanted to fight.” 

Williams sounded a willingness to face either of the world’s two best Middleweights, World Champion Kelly Pavlik (35-1, 31 KO) or IBF titlist Arthur Abraham (29-0, 23 KO), and also made a brief aside about a 168 lb. fighter who he’d love to see come out of retirement, presumably former World Champion Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KO). 

The first two names would be the most realistic but may first settle matters with each other later in the year.  Williams would be an imposing challenge for either in the aftermath of what would certainly be a war between Pavlik and Abraham. 

Williams also continues to claim he’d be willing to fight any of the best at 147 and 154 lbs. as well.  Whether that would mean a “Sugar” Shane Mosley or Vernon Forrest, Williams is likely not to be the first call for those men.

Wright was thoughtful in defeat.  “He was real tall and awkward…He threw a lot of punches and they comin’ from so long a distance it’s hard to counter.  We did what we had to do.  It’s been 21 months coming back; I won’t be off that long (again).”  Wright assured this was no end to his career and stated Williams was “capable” of defeating the best at 160 lbs.

On the televised undercard, the focus was tuned not on a man fighting the best but for a chance to get those opportunities.

While attention will remain on the weight of 28-year old Heavyweight Cristobal Arreola (27-0, 24 KO) of Riverside, California, his power continues to make it a non-issue.  Even at a loose fleshed 255 lbs., the latest step in a tried and true path to a title was easily passed and in a knockout fashion sure to build on his growing fan base. 

Having previously gone through some tested journeyman and a pair of promising fellow prospects, Arreola moved past a former title challenger who has been in with, and been competitive with, many of the division’s best. 

While clearly not in his best shape, 38-year old Jameel McCline (39-10-3, 23 KO), 271, of West Palm Beach, Florida had not been stopped purely with punches since a 2002 loss to Wladimir Klitschko.  On Saturday, he didn’t make it out of the fourth round.

A minute passed before a serious shot landed in the bout as a quick McCline left jab was followed by a lacing right.  Arreola showed a commitment to the body, landing in combination downstairs before cracking McCline with a big right near the ropes inside the final thirty seconds.  Arreola followed with another right and a partially blocked left hook to end an otherwise slow opening frame.  Arreola continued to pressure in the second, pushing McCline back to the ropes with a mix of jabs, right hands, and body work.  By the end of round two, McCline’s mouth was wide open and he already appeared exhausted. 

McCline began the third pawing with his jab but stepped in with a hard right before Arreola’s right again asserted itself.  Another McCline right would land with authority to force an Arreola clinch and McCline would add two short, quick left hooks in the final minute.  Arreola bounced back, jamming a hard right uppercut into the chin of McCline near the ropes only for McCline to come off the ropes with two more left hooks.

Having been stung in the third, Arreola struck first in the fourth with a looping overhand right and controlled the sporadic action over the first half of the round.  Control became domination when an Arreola left uppercut blasted through the guard of McCline, followed by two right hands to drive McCline to the floor.  McCline could do no more than reach his knees before referee Tony Weeks counted the full toll of ten at 2:01 of round four.

Arreola, currently recognized as the number one contender to WBC Heavyweight titlist Vitali Klitschko (37-2, 36 KO), and rated #8 overall by Ring Magazine, voiced a readiness to make a step towards the top.  “I’m just fighting to try to be the best Heavyweight fighter in the world,” he stated.  “I’m ready to fight whoever they want me to fight.  I want to be considered the best so I can fight the best.  The Klitschko brothers…if they think I’m not ready for them, there goes another fight.” 

McCline stated he felt Arreola would be ready for a crack at a title shortly.  “Chris is a very good fighter.  I’ll see him fighting for a title very soon.”  McCline’s prediction is likely to come true before the end of 2009.

The card was televised as live as part of HBO’s “World Championship Boxing” show, promoted by Golden Boy 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