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What a waste.
He got himself into the best shape possible for Skelton but still looked a shadow of his former self. I'd say he's probably the biggest under-achiever in boxing of the last 20 years - lack of confidence, mental problems, weight problems.
His natural talent was second to none, he went to Russia at 17 years old as a last-minute replacement (10 mins to pack his bags) with only a handful of amateur fights and astonishingly stopped the top three Russian heavyweights! Instead of accepting Mickey Duff's abnormally big-money offer to turn pro in 1991, Williams competed in international tournaments for the next four years and showed a level of inconsistency rarely seen - he lost to guys he wasn't supposed to, and beat guys he wasn't supposed to. He pulled out of a fight with Wlad Klitschko in the amateurs in 1995 because he said he heard rumours that Wlad was on steroids, and often pulled out of other fights at the last-minute for no apparent reason, and on one occasion walked out of the ring in a fight he was winning.
He turned pro and started anihilating his way through anybody put in front of him, then was ducked by Vitali Klitschko in 1998. He's actually beaten every man he's ever shared a ring with other than Vassili Kirianov (who beat both Klitschko's) and Vitali Klitschko, he KO'd Samil Sam at the 1995 European Cup and KO'd Kali Meehan in 32 seconds. But these last three years he has looked depressingly poor, he looked brilliant against Keith Long to get that Lonsdale belt on his mantlepiece but put on 25lbs bodyweight for the Samil Sam rematch and looked terrible. He hasn't been able to lose the weight since, he's actually put on more and more weight and looked worse and worse.
He's always looked at his sharpest weighing 230-249, not 255-270. I think the Klitschko fight took too much out of him, he dislocated his shoulder in round one and stood in front of Klitschko for eight rounds one-handed and took his beating hopelessly against a man who weighed 20lbs less than he did. Against Audley Harrison, he fractured his ankle early on and looked just as bad as he did against Klitschko. For Skelton, he got himself into the best shape possible (even giving up all junk food) but it's too little too late because he was completely out-worked and got a gift decision. He still weighed 267 last night, WTF is going on? Although he did seem to have more hard muscle on his upper body last night.
Sure, we saw some flashes of the 'old' Danny Williams last night with a few sharp one-two combinations and doubling up on the jab well, etc. But still a shadow of his former self, he was so plodding it's sad. The guy had tonnes of ability, but at 32 years old and 20+lbs overweight he wouldn't stand much chance against a Lamon Brewster unless he REALLY rolls back the years. He'd need a miracle.
As for the Valuev situation, we all know that was a flat-out Lie from Frank Warren. Warren hates Williams, and was desperate for him to lose last night. Don King would of got Skelton a shot at Valuev because Don King can do whatever he wants, but Williams was Never going to get a shot at Valuev. There's nowhere for Williams to go now, sure he'd have a punchers chance against most but a slim one at that. He used to burst into tears before fights because he was ****ed up in the head, but even though his head seems to be right these days he is physically not close to the fighter he has been at his best. For a guy who 10 years ago (and even 15 years ago) was fully expected to be the world champion some day soon, as if it was a full-gone conclusion, this is a sad situation. I blame it on those ****ing Mr Kipling cakes, and Williams' ****ed up head.
He got himself into the best shape possible for Skelton but still looked a shadow of his former self. I'd say he's probably the biggest under-achiever in boxing of the last 20 years - lack of confidence, mental problems, weight problems.
His natural talent was second to none, he went to Russia at 17 years old as a last-minute replacement (10 mins to pack his bags) with only a handful of amateur fights and astonishingly stopped the top three Russian heavyweights! Instead of accepting Mickey Duff's abnormally big-money offer to turn pro in 1991, Williams competed in international tournaments for the next four years and showed a level of inconsistency rarely seen - he lost to guys he wasn't supposed to, and beat guys he wasn't supposed to. He pulled out of a fight with Wlad Klitschko in the amateurs in 1995 because he said he heard rumours that Wlad was on steroids, and often pulled out of other fights at the last-minute for no apparent reason, and on one occasion walked out of the ring in a fight he was winning.
He turned pro and started anihilating his way through anybody put in front of him, then was ducked by Vitali Klitschko in 1998. He's actually beaten every man he's ever shared a ring with other than Vassili Kirianov (who beat both Klitschko's) and Vitali Klitschko, he KO'd Samil Sam at the 1995 European Cup and KO'd Kali Meehan in 32 seconds. But these last three years he has looked depressingly poor, he looked brilliant against Keith Long to get that Lonsdale belt on his mantlepiece but put on 25lbs bodyweight for the Samil Sam rematch and looked terrible. He hasn't been able to lose the weight since, he's actually put on more and more weight and looked worse and worse.
He's always looked at his sharpest weighing 230-249, not 255-270. I think the Klitschko fight took too much out of him, he dislocated his shoulder in round one and stood in front of Klitschko for eight rounds one-handed and took his beating hopelessly against a man who weighed 20lbs less than he did. Against Audley Harrison, he fractured his ankle early on and looked just as bad as he did against Klitschko. For Skelton, he got himself into the best shape possible (even giving up all junk food) but it's too little too late because he was completely out-worked and got a gift decision. He still weighed 267 last night, WTF is going on? Although he did seem to have more hard muscle on his upper body last night.
Sure, we saw some flashes of the 'old' Danny Williams last night with a few sharp one-two combinations and doubling up on the jab well, etc. But still a shadow of his former self, he was so plodding it's sad. The guy had tonnes of ability, but at 32 years old and 20+lbs overweight he wouldn't stand much chance against a Lamon Brewster unless he REALLY rolls back the years. He'd need a miracle.
As for the Valuev situation, we all know that was a flat-out Lie from Frank Warren. Warren hates Williams, and was desperate for him to lose last night. Don King would of got Skelton a shot at Valuev because Don King can do whatever he wants, but Williams was Never going to get a shot at Valuev. There's nowhere for Williams to go now, sure he'd have a punchers chance against most but a slim one at that. He used to burst into tears before fights because he was ****ed up in the head, but even though his head seems to be right these days he is physically not close to the fighter he has been at his best. For a guy who 10 years ago (and even 15 years ago) was fully expected to be the world champion some day soon, as if it was a full-gone conclusion, this is a sad situation. I blame it on those ****ing Mr Kipling cakes, and Williams' ****ed up head.
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