By Alan Thomson – Paul “The Punisher Williams” doled out a standard issue beat down to game but overmatched journeyman Verno Phillips last night in Ontario, California despite a nasty cut over his right eye as the result of an unintentional head butt in round one. Williams controlled the action from the opening bell, working on the inside against the shorter Phillips. Although Phillips was never seriously hurt in the bout, it was stopped by the ring doctor after the eighth round. Williams punished Phillips throughout the contest, doing some particularly vicious work to the body.
With the win Williams captured the vacant WBO 154-pound interim belt and staked his claim as a force to be reckoned with at both welterweight and junior middleweight. It was his third KO in three different weight classes in his last three fights. Williams is now 36-1 with 26 KOs.
In a fight reminiscent of a World War II tank battle, Cristobal Arreola got off the canvas to score a third round TKO against Travis Walker in an IBF heavyweight eliminator bout. Defense seemed to be an afterthought to both fighters as Walker, having the faster hands, took it Arreola in round one, dropping him to a knee with a straight right. Arreola sucked it up and came back in the second with hard combinations, flooring Walker twice. Arreola put Walker down for good with a hook just 13 seconds into round three. Arreola moves to 26-0 with 23 KOs and is now the number-two ranked heavyweight in the IBF behind Alexander Povetkin and champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Comments are closed.