PAUL WILLIAMS
BOXING’S MOST UNWANTED

By Jake Donovan
FightBeat.com President

“He’s not worth the risk… He needs us more than we need him… He’s a southpaw, his fights are too awkward.”

And so on and so on. Undefeated welterweight contender Paul “The Punisher” Williams (27-0, 19KO) and his team have heard every excuse in the book in attempting to line up top-ranked opposition. Fortunately, they’ve had less of a problem lining up TV dates, as the rangy southpaw is slated to face Alfonso “Poncho” Sanchez in the co-feature slot of this week’s ShoBox card in Leemore, CA (December 2, 11PM ET/PT).

It’s fitting that Robert Guerrero headlines the show. The lanky featherweight goes by the nickname “The Ghost”, but it’s Williams who’s spooking the top contenders. Only “The Punisher” is doing his damage outside the ring. The fact that nobody’s willing to fight him is flattering to Williams, though it’s resulted in blind training camps. Sanchez was named as an opponent only two weeks ago, a scenario that has become the norm for the past few years.

“Ever since about his 16th pro fight, it’s been this way,” says manager George Peterson, who has been with Williams since his brief amateur career. “We’re at the point now where we’ll fight anyone. It’s not like we even search for anyone in particular, other than wanting to face a ranked contender. Instead, we have to accept any fight that comes our way in order to keep him active.”

Such was the reasoning for facing fellow southpaw Terrance Cauthen this past April, which marked Williams’ ShoBox debut. Team Williams knew of Cauthen’s not-so-fan friendly style, but it was the best name available. With TV dates at a premium these days, Williams didn’t want to pass on an opportunity, nor did he want to be the one turning down an opponent.

“They told us that Terrance Cauthen was the only one willing to take the fight, so we took it,” says Williams. “I get mad when people refuse to fight me; I didn’t want to be the one to put anyone else through that. We knew that Cauthen would run and make the fight as ugly as possible. But I at least wanted to show that I was there to fight. I won every round, did the same in my next fight on FoxSports (UD8 Marteze Logan), and now I’m just ready to get this one over with.”

Considering the opponent, you would think that Williams would be more anxious than normal to get into the ring. The power-punching Sanchez (20-3-1, 18KO) is rarely in a dull fight, a refreshing change from light-hitters Cauthen and Logan. Poncho is also unlike Cauthen and Logan when it comes to playing catcher. All three of his career losses have come via knockout, exposing his inability to take it to the chin or the body.

Williams hasn’t had the opportunity to prove he can take a punch. The 6’1” southpaw effectively integrates his usual height and reach advantage into his boxer-puncher style. He’s won nearly every round of his pro career, taking very little punishment -- dishing out plenty. Despite knockout power in both fists, Williams prefers to box more than slug – even though the latter would help his marketability.

“I know that I can pop, but I feel more comfortable boxing,” explains Williams. “I don’t care how hard you hit, you can’t knock out everyone. If I sense a knockout, of course I go for it. But if it’s not there – and any good fighter can tell right away – then I’d rather know at the end of the fight that I did all I could to secure the win. I’d rather shut down my opponent and pile up points than to have to spend the entire fight playing catch up, thinking one punch will get the job done.” 

Against Sanchez, one punch has proven to do the trick in the past. Micky Ward did it with a single body shot after losing nearly every second of the previous six rounds. Vince Phillips and Eleazar Contreras, Jr. turned the trick with one crack to the chin in the opening round.

But Williams isn’t relying on past history for this fight. He has little reason to rely on form charts. Early in his career, he believed that a world title shot would be within reach after five years and nearly thirty fights. It hasn’t worked out that way. 

“We appreciate whatever fights come our way, like this TV date,” says Peterson. “But we’re also to the point where we really don’t need to build up on experience. Paul’s got the experience; what we need now are the opportunities. It’s a weird transition – he hasn’t been able to line up the top contenders, yet we know that he’s ready for a world title.”

The question is: where does that first shot come from? Zab Judah is the undisputed welterweight champ, and is already looking at a busy first quarter. The only other option at 147 is Antonio Margarito, who possesses the lesser-regarded WBO title. Margarito’s handlers have claimed their fighter has a hard time lining up fights as well. For that reason, Williams hopes to land a fight with the Mexican in the near future.

“He’s claiming everyone’s ducking him, I seem to have a hard time getting fights. Sounds like a perfect match to me.”

Don’t expect Williams’ camp to hold their breath waiting for the fight to pan out.

“Margarito and his team are a very nice group of people,” says Peterson. “But we may have already ruined our chances of getting him in the ring. Paul sparred with him a while back – he was brought in for what was supposed to be three weeks. After a week of Paul whoopin’ on him, they tell us “Thanks, but we’re going to have to let you go.” But they were kind enough to pay us for the full three weeks. That’s been the closest we’ve been able to come to a championship fight. Hopefully that changes soon, but I’m not counting on it.”

What Team Williams can at least count on is plenty of support. Al Haymon, high-profile music promoter and boxing manager, has recently signed on.  Williams has reaped the immediate benefits. Tomorrow night’s fight is Williams’ second on a cable network in just over two months. His first bout under Haymon led to a potential budding relationship with Goossen-Tutor Promotions, who promotes the ShoBox card Friday night.

Still, no matter who stands in Williams’ corner, getting top contenders to look past the scouting report and accept a challenge remains a daunting task.

“The only thing wrong with Paul is that he’s so good at so many things,” insists Peterson. “He’s 6’1” with a long reach – the man can stand across the street and catch you. If you’re Zab Judah – all 5’7,” or whatever – why the hell would you want to rush in and fight someone where you’re power won’t be the least bit effective?

“Then you take into account that he’s a southpaw. Strike two. On top of that, the man can CRACK! So you have a tall rangy southpaw that can lay some pain on you. It’s always going to be an obstacle until he wins a title or two.”

That’s precisely why Williams is sticking it out at welter.

“People keep asking when I am going to move up, but there’s too much unfinished business here,” says Williams. “I can become undisputed champ with just two fights – Zab and Margarito. Both claim they have a hard time getting fights. Well, I want both of them. I’m not leaving the division until I get my title shots and collect all of them belts. After that, I’ll think about moving up. Until then, I’m staying put. Eventually, they’ll have to fight me.”

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