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Last week I caught up with WBO titleholder Paul Williams. At the request of trainer/manager George Peterson, Paul and I did not go into detail regarding his proposed bout with IBF titleholder Kermit Cintron. However we did cover all the other titleholders in depth. If you are a Paul Williams fan in particular or a welterweight fan in general, this is the interview for you. Doghouseboxing.com welcomes back Paul Williams.
Gabriel Montoya: We haven’t spoken in a while, Paul. How’ve you been, man? You’ve been on a bit of an extended
vacation.
Paul Williams: I’ve been pretty good.
GM: What’ve you been up to?
PW: Basically training. After the fight with Margarito, I came home for like a week or two. And after that we were back doing our training. Basically my life is training.
GM: You got to spend a little time with the family, I imagine. Much needed.
PW: It definitely was needed but right now I am still in training.
GM: What weight are you walking around at right now?
PW: 156 and half.
GM: Really? I guess if you needed to fight next week, you could.
PW: Oh yeah, most definitely. I’d love to fight next week (laughs).
GM: Were you a little disappointed you didn’t get to finish the year out with a fight?
PW: Yeah. I wanted to get a fight sometime in December but unfortunately the TV schedule didn’t open up until February 2nd so…
GM: Now coming into the Margarito fight there was a lot of speculation that you were injured. And you guys kind of squashed that but when I did the interview with George afterwards, he told me that in fact your hand and your ribs were injured.
PW: Yeah, yeah. It was a small injury to my ribs. They were sore so we took a few days off from sparring. But I didn’t want to complain to anyone that my ribs were sore or whatever. I didn’t want to look like I was making excuses. I fought just like a champion. I didn’t want anyone to know that. A week before, it leaked out. But a lot of people were saying after, “Man, your ribs were hurt and you still fought like that? Imagine if your ribs weren’t hurt.”
GM: That’s what I was saying when [George] told me. At ringside I saw you take some brutal body shots.
PW: Oh yeah. The body shots he was throwing into my sore ribs really hurt me but I just had to suck it up.
GM: Yeah. What are you gonna to do? You gotta get that title, right?
PW: That’s why I didn’t want to stay in front of him too long. But then I said ‘I can’t run from him all night.’ So I when he wanted to **** a little bit I’d **** a little with him. Just to get my respect from him. Then I’d tie him up, let him **** at my ribs. They was a little sore but you know, after your adrenaline starts pumping, after awhile you get to where you don’t even feel it. You don’t notice through out the fight.
GM: Watching you and knowing your style from previous fights, I could see a mental battle. You had to stick to your game plan but I know you like to stand toe to toe and get it on. Was it hard sticking to the game plan?
PW: Oh yeah. Sometimes the game plan is just to box the guy. To hit and not get hit. But after awhile, it works, but I’d lose focus and want to start ****ing with him. You have to put that ego aside and say ‘you’re staying in front of this guy too long. You can’t do that.’ You have to get back into the game plan. Sometimes you can get away from it with the action, or the crowd. You want to show them you don’t have to move around to win rounds. You want to get your respect but you got to stick to the game plan.
GM: That crowd was electric. One of the best nights of boxing I’ve spent. Let’s move forward. George has asked me not to get into the specifics of your proposed fight with Cintron because you guys don’t know all the details yet. I would like to know one thing: have you signed a contract yet?
PW: No, sir. I haven’t signed a contract. I would love to sign one and be locked into the fight but… [Cintron] hasn’t signed one so nothing’s confirmed. [Writer’s note: Speaking with Williams’ promoter Dan Goosen several days later, he confirmed that the Williams camp had signed a bout agreement but Team Cintron had not signed one yet.]
GM: Let’s talk about the rest of the welterweight division. What did you think of Cotto /Mosley?
PW: The Cotto/Mosley fight I thought it would be more fighting than it was. I thought it would be more action than that. After the ninth round, Cotto just backed up. Mosley you could say he didn’t do enough.
GM: Yeah.
PW: He showed that he didn’t want it bad enough in the twelfth round. I thought it was going to be more fighting watching the [Countdown show on HBO]. I guess Cotto played it smart, winning the early rounds. But [down the stretch] he didn’t do nothing. Me, I wasn’t that impressed. I can’t take nothing from them guys. I guess I was looking at it like ‘I’d have been doing this.’ We’d have been fighting the whole twelve rounds if we had to go the whole twelve.
GM: You’re a fighter and you see other fighters in the gym. Like me, you’ve probably watched Mosley his whole career. When he had Cotto backing up, granted Cotto was countering a lot and pretty effectively, did it look to you like Mosley could see the openings but because of age or ring wear and tear he couldn’t get off?
PW: Most definitely. I mean, that’s how I say it’s like everyone was thinking he was the Mosley of five years ago but he ain’t the same Mosley anymore. For being his age he is pretty good but Cotto was basically the stronger, younger fighter. He was more active than Mosley was. Even when Mosley was coming forward and Cotto was hurt. In my mind, I’m thinking ‘okay let’s start putting punches together. Let’s start pressing the guy a little harder.’ But Mosley didn’t do that. Even when he had him on the ropes. To me he was just looking for the overhand right and when Cotto got hit with that, he didn’t throw enough uppercuts.
GM: He didn’t come back with the left hook enough, either.
PW: No he didn’t. To me, he didn’t do enough to look like he really wanted the fight. Even though the fight was close. If he would have won the twelfth round it’d been a draw. But he didn’t go after it in the twelfth. I thought it would have been a much more exciting fight than what I seen.
GM: I read in a recent interview of yours before the [Cotto/Mosley] card that you didn’t feel [Antonio] Margarito would come out very fast and that [his opponent] Golden Johnson might have a shot. Were you surprised by how fast Margarito came out and what he did in that fight?
PW: When I seen Golden Johnson when he first came out after the bell rung, I knew it wasn’t going to last long. You can’t stand in front of a guy that hits like that. So he gave Margarito the chance to come out like. If Golden Johnson would have boxed him and gave him some movement, I don’t think [Margarito] would have thrown like he was throwing. But Margarito looked very impressive, you know? If anyone stands in front of him like that he will do that to them. But Golden Johnson didn’t throw back. He just caught everything. He made Margarito look real good. To me he looked scared. He didn’t do nothing. He just stood in front of him and Margarito just took it to him.
GM: Yeah it was pretty brutal. Let’s go to the other big welterweight fight. What do you think? Who’s going to win between Floyd and Hatton?
PW: Floyd and Hatton? You know, Hatton can’t try to box Floyd. Floyd is a very good boxer; he’s smart in the ring. He knows the ring. He knows how to box. He’s real quick with his punches and stuff. If Hatton tries to box Floyd I think he’ll beat him worse than Gatti. If Hatton roughhouse him, make him fight, I think Hatton got a better chance of winning that. You can’t box Floyd. Floyd’s too good of a boxer. Hatton’s a good fighter, too but I don’t see Hatton as fast as Floyd. I see him being a harder puncher than Floyd but I don’t see him out boxing Floyd. I think he has to roughhouse Floyd. Push him, hold him, hit him. Make him fight a straight fight. He can’t box him. He’s got to fight him. If Hatton do that then I see Hatton beating him.
GM: Do you think Hatton is capable of doing that?
PW: Yeah I think he’s capable of doing that. When he was first coming out he was putting pressure on a lot of guys. With that pressure style fighting he made Kostya Tsyzu quit. That constant pressure, throwing punches and making them fight, that gives guys struggles. I don’t know if Floyd can deal with that. Castillo in the first fight [with Mayweather] just basically fought him. Didn’t try to box him just fight him. He had trouble with that. I don’t see Hatton standing toe to toe and trying to box him. I don’t see him winning it like that.
Gabriel Montoya: We haven’t spoken in a while, Paul. How’ve you been, man? You’ve been on a bit of an extended
vacation.
Paul Williams: I’ve been pretty good.
GM: What’ve you been up to?
PW: Basically training. After the fight with Margarito, I came home for like a week or two. And after that we were back doing our training. Basically my life is training.
GM: You got to spend a little time with the family, I imagine. Much needed.
PW: It definitely was needed but right now I am still in training.
GM: What weight are you walking around at right now?
PW: 156 and half.
GM: Really? I guess if you needed to fight next week, you could.
PW: Oh yeah, most definitely. I’d love to fight next week (laughs).
GM: Were you a little disappointed you didn’t get to finish the year out with a fight?
PW: Yeah. I wanted to get a fight sometime in December but unfortunately the TV schedule didn’t open up until February 2nd so…
GM: Now coming into the Margarito fight there was a lot of speculation that you were injured. And you guys kind of squashed that but when I did the interview with George afterwards, he told me that in fact your hand and your ribs were injured.
PW: Yeah, yeah. It was a small injury to my ribs. They were sore so we took a few days off from sparring. But I didn’t want to complain to anyone that my ribs were sore or whatever. I didn’t want to look like I was making excuses. I fought just like a champion. I didn’t want anyone to know that. A week before, it leaked out. But a lot of people were saying after, “Man, your ribs were hurt and you still fought like that? Imagine if your ribs weren’t hurt.”
GM: That’s what I was saying when [George] told me. At ringside I saw you take some brutal body shots.
PW: Oh yeah. The body shots he was throwing into my sore ribs really hurt me but I just had to suck it up.
GM: Yeah. What are you gonna to do? You gotta get that title, right?
PW: That’s why I didn’t want to stay in front of him too long. But then I said ‘I can’t run from him all night.’ So I when he wanted to **** a little bit I’d **** a little with him. Just to get my respect from him. Then I’d tie him up, let him **** at my ribs. They was a little sore but you know, after your adrenaline starts pumping, after awhile you get to where you don’t even feel it. You don’t notice through out the fight.
GM: Watching you and knowing your style from previous fights, I could see a mental battle. You had to stick to your game plan but I know you like to stand toe to toe and get it on. Was it hard sticking to the game plan?
PW: Oh yeah. Sometimes the game plan is just to box the guy. To hit and not get hit. But after awhile, it works, but I’d lose focus and want to start ****ing with him. You have to put that ego aside and say ‘you’re staying in front of this guy too long. You can’t do that.’ You have to get back into the game plan. Sometimes you can get away from it with the action, or the crowd. You want to show them you don’t have to move around to win rounds. You want to get your respect but you got to stick to the game plan.
GM: That crowd was electric. One of the best nights of boxing I’ve spent. Let’s move forward. George has asked me not to get into the specifics of your proposed fight with Cintron because you guys don’t know all the details yet. I would like to know one thing: have you signed a contract yet?
PW: No, sir. I haven’t signed a contract. I would love to sign one and be locked into the fight but… [Cintron] hasn’t signed one so nothing’s confirmed. [Writer’s note: Speaking with Williams’ promoter Dan Goosen several days later, he confirmed that the Williams camp had signed a bout agreement but Team Cintron had not signed one yet.]
GM: Let’s talk about the rest of the welterweight division. What did you think of Cotto /Mosley?
PW: The Cotto/Mosley fight I thought it would be more fighting than it was. I thought it would be more action than that. After the ninth round, Cotto just backed up. Mosley you could say he didn’t do enough.
GM: Yeah.
PW: He showed that he didn’t want it bad enough in the twelfth round. I thought it was going to be more fighting watching the [Countdown show on HBO]. I guess Cotto played it smart, winning the early rounds. But [down the stretch] he didn’t do nothing. Me, I wasn’t that impressed. I can’t take nothing from them guys. I guess I was looking at it like ‘I’d have been doing this.’ We’d have been fighting the whole twelve rounds if we had to go the whole twelve.
GM: You’re a fighter and you see other fighters in the gym. Like me, you’ve probably watched Mosley his whole career. When he had Cotto backing up, granted Cotto was countering a lot and pretty effectively, did it look to you like Mosley could see the openings but because of age or ring wear and tear he couldn’t get off?
PW: Most definitely. I mean, that’s how I say it’s like everyone was thinking he was the Mosley of five years ago but he ain’t the same Mosley anymore. For being his age he is pretty good but Cotto was basically the stronger, younger fighter. He was more active than Mosley was. Even when Mosley was coming forward and Cotto was hurt. In my mind, I’m thinking ‘okay let’s start putting punches together. Let’s start pressing the guy a little harder.’ But Mosley didn’t do that. Even when he had him on the ropes. To me he was just looking for the overhand right and when Cotto got hit with that, he didn’t throw enough uppercuts.
GM: He didn’t come back with the left hook enough, either.
PW: No he didn’t. To me, he didn’t do enough to look like he really wanted the fight. Even though the fight was close. If he would have won the twelfth round it’d been a draw. But he didn’t go after it in the twelfth. I thought it would have been a much more exciting fight than what I seen.
GM: I read in a recent interview of yours before the [Cotto/Mosley] card that you didn’t feel [Antonio] Margarito would come out very fast and that [his opponent] Golden Johnson might have a shot. Were you surprised by how fast Margarito came out and what he did in that fight?
PW: When I seen Golden Johnson when he first came out after the bell rung, I knew it wasn’t going to last long. You can’t stand in front of a guy that hits like that. So he gave Margarito the chance to come out like. If Golden Johnson would have boxed him and gave him some movement, I don’t think [Margarito] would have thrown like he was throwing. But Margarito looked very impressive, you know? If anyone stands in front of him like that he will do that to them. But Golden Johnson didn’t throw back. He just caught everything. He made Margarito look real good. To me he looked scared. He didn’t do nothing. He just stood in front of him and Margarito just took it to him.
GM: Yeah it was pretty brutal. Let’s go to the other big welterweight fight. What do you think? Who’s going to win between Floyd and Hatton?
PW: Floyd and Hatton? You know, Hatton can’t try to box Floyd. Floyd is a very good boxer; he’s smart in the ring. He knows the ring. He knows how to box. He’s real quick with his punches and stuff. If Hatton tries to box Floyd I think he’ll beat him worse than Gatti. If Hatton roughhouse him, make him fight, I think Hatton got a better chance of winning that. You can’t box Floyd. Floyd’s too good of a boxer. Hatton’s a good fighter, too but I don’t see Hatton as fast as Floyd. I see him being a harder puncher than Floyd but I don’t see him out boxing Floyd. I think he has to roughhouse Floyd. Push him, hold him, hit him. Make him fight a straight fight. He can’t box him. He’s got to fight him. If Hatton do that then I see Hatton beating him.
GM: Do you think Hatton is capable of doing that?
PW: Yeah I think he’s capable of doing that. When he was first coming out he was putting pressure on a lot of guys. With that pressure style fighting he made Kostya Tsyzu quit. That constant pressure, throwing punches and making them fight, that gives guys struggles. I don’t know if Floyd can deal with that. Castillo in the first fight [with Mayweather] just basically fought him. Didn’t try to box him just fight him. He had trouble with that. I don’t see Hatton standing toe to toe and trying to box him. I don’t see him winning it like that.
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