By Sean McDaniel: Former BBBofC and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Danny Williams (41-8, 31 KO’s) plans on retiring from boxing following his February 13th bout against the current Commonwealth heavyweight champion Sam Sexton (13-1, 6 KO’s) at the Wembley Arena, Wembley, in London. Williams, now 36, has lost two out of his last three fights. In his last bout in October, Williams was defeated by the little known 287 pound Carl Baker in a three round decision in the Prizefighter tournament.
Williams was shockingly knocked down twice in the 1st round in that before rallying somewhat to make it close. Had the fight gone at least eight rounds or more, it’s highly likely that Williams would have won the fight as Baker looked to be tiring by the end of the fight.
However, there’s no mistaking that Williams has struggled in the past three years in losses to Matt Skelton, Audley Harrison and Alberto Sosnowski. Although some boxing fans consider Williams a shot fighter, he appears to be no different than he was five years ago.
Williams was always a fighter that had excellent power, but a shaky chin. Most of Williams’ fights boil down to whether he’ll get to his opponent before they get to him. But to say that Williams is all of a sudden shot because he lost a three round decision to Baker is really overlooking the problems that Williams has always had during his career.
Williams has been beaten by Julius Francis, Sinan Samil Sam, Michael Sprott and Vitali Klitschko while in the prime of his career. Is it any wonder then that Williams would still be having problems now in his 14th year of his career. Personally, I think Williams is making a mistake to retire. He has at least two to four good years left in the tank if he wants. His power is still quite good when he’s letting his hands go and his jab is one of the best in the entire heavyweight division.
Sam Sexton, his next opponent, will be in great danger in that fight if Williams comes out smoking and throwing bombs. Sexton doesn’t have the best chin, as noted by his 6th stoppage loss to Derek Chisora in June 2008. Sexton was also badly hurt by Martin Rogan in their first fight in May 2009. Williams hits harder than Chisora and Rogan, and may be a problem for Sexton if he catches him with a big shot.
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Fury forced to vacate his English heavyweight title
Unbeaten heavyweight Tyson Fury (9-0, 7 KO’s) has reportedly been forced to vacate his English heavyweight title due to an injury he suffered in his fight with Tomas Mrazek in September. Fury, 21, captured the BBBofC English heavyweight title with a controversial 10 round decision over John McDermott in September.
Due to the hand injury, Fury was unable to defend the title. Now, unfortunately, the vacant title will be fought over by McDrmott and Derek Chisora. However, Fury will still be able to fight the winner of the bout if he’s interested. It could very well be end up being Chisora, which would work out perfectly for both fighters. However, Fury needs to work on his leaky defense and his lack of power. He had big problems against McDermott in their fight and was nailed often in that fight.
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