Can Williams Still Be Great?

Honestly, I was a fan of the Punisher but I never neccessarily thought he was an all time great or even that he could run 147. I just appreciated watching him fight, partly because his high activity style made for an entertaining battle; his vulnerability to punches being part of that. If you're talking retirement after a brutal KO loss like his, though, something is wrong. Listen to the man- Paul isn't talking about not being able to get fights, other guys being too scared to sign on the dotted line; he's talking about having real estate and other money coming in, having achieved what he set out to do, and wanting to get out of the ring with his health. In other words, he doesn't sound hungry. He doesn't sound like a guy who is going to push his way through the fire in tough battles anymore, taking the punishment he has to with that style of his, to grab the 'W'. I'll be tuning in Saturday to see a good scrap - not even just to root for Paul. Lara is still hungry, still a rising prospect - maybe he can start his acension to that next level by eating up a less motivated boxer coming off a bad KO loss; I guess we'll see. I could really see a close fight where Paul takes all the early rounds, but not in dominating fashion- still getting hit with clean, hard shots, and then late Lara getting him out of there if he gets lazy. I'm calling an end to any talk of Punisher being elite. That's from the recent retirement talk in his interviews. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, though. We'll see. I say Martinez ruined him.

He is already talking retirement after 2-3 more fights. His resume is not good enough to be considered a great.

great again???when was he ever great? Don't understand why a Martinez fan would want to discredit PW, considering it's Martinez's defining win and he does have a loss to PW. He was a great fighter, and I still think he is great, but not quite elite. The list of elite fighters for me is Floyd, Pac, Martinez, and maybe Donaire. There isn't a guy at 154 or 160 I would favor over him right now other than Martinez.

great again???when was he ever great?

Assuming he suffered no ill effects from that KO: There isnt a 154 Pounder alive that beats him other than Sergio. Even with Martinez I give Sergio a 60-40 edge. Williams took round 1 with ease but got caught the second round. He stays on his feet he is the only fighter at that weight who can handle Sergio. Angulo, Cotto, Canelo, Margarito all get hammered up pretty badly. Especially Cotto and Canelo. I cant say Bobby making the Cotto fight. He didnt want it when Cotto was prime he really doesnt want it now. Hes in a tough spot. If he dominates Lara NO ONE other than Sergio will have the balls to go after him. If he struggles and still win he can get Vanes, K9, or Dzinznriuk in the ring. If he loses he might as will retire while he still has good health. I dont see him moving up to 168 anytime soon. Heck he just moved down a division. Hes barely outgrown WW. I cant see that move yet. With all that said he should try to enforce his number 1 contender status for Alvarezs belt. Or try to fight Angulo which seems like a long shot given his status. So its either Canelo, K9, Dzinziruk, or Vanes. Not a bad list at all. 3 of those fighters are Champions so I would guess a title shot is next. Hbo might have their eye on Williams-Dzinziruk that was his Plan B if the Martinez rematch couldnt go down. Every boxing organization had him Top 10 P4Pound for a reason. The ring had him at 7. A lot of other publications had him at 3-5. A dominating win puts him RIGHT back on the P4P list. A lot of noob, troll posters treated Paul as if he lost to a bum. Then thy turn around and say Martinez should be P4P number 1 based on that win. He wins hes right back in the thick of things. who taught you how to score fights man?

He's always struggled to get guys to fight him. Really his biggest fights are against other guys who struggled to get big fights. Chetto (when he was good not now), Martinez, Cintron, and Winky are all guys who also were avoided. My opinion is he's going to fight till he loses again, however long that is.

thats a big ass nose lol.................

well he does say that he does have other ways of making income (@ 1:35) and he doesn't want to fight other guys besides the top dogs, and those top dogs aren't fighting him. but i do know what you mean, nobody thought pwill would be talking retirement at this stage of his career. thats a big ass nose

Yeah I feel the same way man. Also this talk of retirement kind of has me thinking that KO from Martinez has some lingering effects. Never heard the word retirement out of his mouth until that KO. I don't think he's going to be the same fighter, but that's just my opinion. We shall see. well he does say that he does have other ways of making income (@ 1:35) and he doesn't want to fight other guys besides the top dogs, and those top dogs aren't fighting him. but i do know what you mean, nobody thought pwill would be talking retirement at this stage of his career.

I never really thought Paul Williams was going to be great in the first place. He is (or was) an exciting world class fighter, but he doesn't possess the skill or talent to be a great fighter. Yeah I feel the same way man. Also this talk of retirement kind of has me thinking that KO from Martinez has some lingering effects. Never heard the word retirement out of his mouth until that KO. I don't think he's going to be the same fighter, but that's just my opinion. We shall see.

pwill said 2 more fights and he's done, so i doubt it, because there's a lot of names in his division that would make great fights and be good wins on his record. just fighting two, maybe even just one since he said he'd like a martinez rematch (and i'd be rooting for martinez), i doubt he can still be what he could've been with the time he's giving himself..

could you see him rolling Lara, meeting Martinez again & beating him, after that being called the most feared man in boxing again, and going on to have battles with guys like Taylor, Abraham, Pavlik, Kirkland, Canelo, Chavez, Cotto, Mayweather, & Pac while doing very well against them? It wasnt long ago that some thought he was a beast and could either beat all of those guys or give them mad hell. Now its like he fell off the map and is even talking retirment. An impressive win against Lara & he starts to pickup steam again. Its actually good because I think he can get more bigger fights now because with the Martinez defeat he has to be resigned to the fact of taking less money to get back to the top and alot of guys dont fear him as they once did so they would take that challenge now. He's in the prime spot to make alot of big things happen but can he get back to the top? Thats if he was really the goods in the 1st place which some dont think he ever was that good. What are you guys thoughts? What do you see happening to him? He's had over 40 fights and the last 3 have been very "dicey". He hasn't looked good in any of them, nothing special. So he may have arrived past his peak and is on the way down, and needs lesser competition to look good again. I haven't really been watching Williams although I've heard a lot about him but saw his last 3.fights. I think he was losing against Cintron, but ran into a Tarver special against Martinez, you know the close eye throw a bomb kind of punch, really a lucky punch, which doesn't occur that often. That was the first one I'd seen since Tarver-Jones. Although Lara has had only 15 fights, who knows what he has ben through in the Cuban Boxing programme, which really turns out pros, not amateurs.

he needs to drop to 147 and get a title defense run of like 20 + defenses without facing anyone good. then he's a legend? oh darn i think that only applies if you are in europe. :lol1: :rofl: fukkin daggum.. wish I could give u more green k.

He could still be legend if he wants to but IDK by his comments about leaving the sport soon. I think he will beat Lara easy Saturday in any case. he needs to drop to 147 and get a title defense run of like 20 + defenses without facing anyone good. then he's a legend? oh darn i think that only applies if you are in europe.

He definitely has the heart and will to be great, but I'm getting the feeling his chin may actually be "cracked" or whatever when they're already talking about only letting him fight 3-4 more times. He's not even 30. Makes me wonder what's going on in the gym to make them feel that way. So no, I don't see him moving forward and fighting however many dozen more times and becoming a really great fighter.

Assuming he suffered no ill effects from that KO: There isnt a 154 Pounder alive that beats him other than Sergio. Even with Martinez I give Sergio a 60-40 edge. Williams took round 1 with ease but got caught the second round. He stays on his feet he is the only fighter at that weight who can handle Sergio. Angulo, Cotto, Canelo, Margarito all get hammered up pretty badly. Especially Cotto and Canelo. I cant say Bobby making the Cotto fight. He didnt want it when Cotto was prime he really doesnt want it now. Hes in a tough spot. If he dominates Lara NO ONE other than Sergio will have the balls to go after him. If he struggles and still win he can get Vanes, K9, or Dzinznriuk in the ring. If he loses he might as will retire while he still has good health. I dont see him moving up to 168 anytime soon. Heck he just moved down a division. Hes barely outgrown WW. I cant see that move yet. With all that said he should try to enforce his number 1 contender status for Alvarezs belt. Or try to fight Angulo which seems like a long shot given his status. So its either Canelo, K9, Dzinziruk, or Vanes. Not a bad list at all. 3 of those fighters are Champions so I would guess a title shot is next. Hbo might have their eye on Williams-Dzinziruk that was his Plan B if the Martinez rematch couldnt go down. Every boxing organization had him Top 10 P4Pound for a reason. The ring had him at 7. A lot of other publications had him at 3-5. A dominating win puts him RIGHT back on the P4P list. A lot of noob, troll posters treated Paul as if he lost to a bum. Then thy turn around and say Martinez should be P4P number 1 based on that win. He wins hes right back in the thick of things. No, he didn't...

I never really thought Paul Williams was going to be great in the first place. He is (or was) an exciting world class fighter, but he doesn't possess the skill or talent to be a great fighter.

Assuming he suffered no ill effects from that KO: There isnt a 154 Pounder alive that beats him other than Sergio. Even with Martinez I give Sergio a 60-40 edge. Williams took round 1 with ease but got caught the second round. He stays on his feet he is the only fighter at that weight who can handle Sergio. :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

Assuming he suffered no ill effects from that KO: There isnt a 154 Pounder alive that beats him other than Sergio. Even with Martinez I give Sergio a 60-40 edge. Williams took round 1 with ease but got caught the second round. he got hit with a bunch of big shots in that round. i don't even really see how he could have won it. he looked busy but nothing was effective and his punches weren't clean at all. he landed some cuffing punches but martinez landed numerous hard punches on williams. martinez even seemed to hurt williams and backed him into the ropes and unloaded. i'm sure lederman(dementia?) gave williams the round but that was a pretty easy round to score for me.

could you see him rolling Lara, meeting Martinez again & beating him, after that being called the most feared man in boxing again, and going on to have battles with guys like Taylor, Abraham, Pavlik, Kirkland, Canelo, Chavez, Cotto, Mayweather, & Pac while doing very well against them? It wasnt long ago that some thought he was a beast and could either beat all of those guys or give them mad hell. Now its like he fell off the map and is even talking retirment. An impressive win against Lara & he starts to pickup steam again. Its actually good because I think he can get more bigger fights now because with the Martinez defeat he has to be resigned to the fact of taking less money to get back to the top and alot of guys dont fear him as they once did so they would take that challenge now. He's in the prime spot to make alot of big things happen but can he get back to the top? Thats if he was really the goods in the 1st place which some dont think he ever was that good. What are you guys thoughts? What do you see happening to him? TKO's Lara and goes for a 3rd fight with Sergio. Sergio isnt fighting anyone so I could see it happeneing again.