Williamson vs. McCline

According to the latest in boxing news gossip, heavyweight contenders Jameel McCline (38-7-3, 23 KOs) will go up against DaVarryl “Touch of Sleep” Williamson on October 6th, 2007, at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York. Both fighters are nearly 40, however, given the sorry shape of the heavyweight division, both are still near the top in terms of talent.

McCline, 27, was previously scheduled to fight Vitali Klitschko next in the Ukrainians’ comeback bout after two years away from boxing, but unfortunately, Vitali injured his back, requiring spinal surgery which will prevent him from taking on McCline. Never the less, Williamson, 39, may turn out to be a much more interesting fight for boxing fans, simply because of his all action style of fighting.

McCline, though has got to be one of the most fortunate, at the same time, the unluckiest fighters in the heavyweight division inh a long time. He’s had three shots at the heavyweight title - against Wladimir Klitschko, Chris Byrd and Nokolay Valuev - and failed very time out. He did, however, come close to beating Byrd, in November 2004, knocking him down in the 2nd round of the fight.

McCline couldn’t follow up on the knockdown, and badly tired shortly thereafter, and was outworked the rest of the way by Byrd. In McCline’s most recent bout, he inured his left knee in the 3rd round against Valuev, on January 20th, 2007. At the time of the injury, McCline had landed several combinations and the fight looked as if it was swinging in his direction. Since then, McCline has had eight months to heal his knee, hopefully more than enough needed to be ready for a hard-punching fighter like Williamson.