By Jim Dower: After beating Kermit Cintron by a 4 round technical decision last night at the Home Depot Center, Carson, California, the 28-year-old Williams said that he’d like to fight Manny Pacquiao next. Williams also said he’d be interested in fighting a rematch with Sergio Martinez, who he beat by a 12 round majority decision last December. However, the chances of getting a fight with either Pacquiao or Martinez are probably slim. Williams isn’t helped that he’s floating between different weight divisions. This, as HBO analyst Jim Lampley points out, gives fighters an excuse not to fight him.

If Williams would have just stayed put in the welterweight division for the past two years, the chances are good that he would have already fought Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. by now. But it’s highly unlikely that Pacquiao will grant Williams’ wish and give him a fight, even if Pacquiao doesn’t fight Mayweather next. The fact of the matter is boxing fans don’t see Williams as a welterweight anymore and this gives the big named fighters the perfect excuse not to fight him.

It’s been two years since Williams last fought at welterweight and it might as well be a lifetime for some people. At 6’1”, Williams would be a huge obstacle for Mayweather or the 5’6” Pacquiao to fight. While I think both of them would beat Williams, it would be a lot tougher fight than the opponents that Pacquiao and Mayweather have been fighting lately. This is why I see Williams being ignored by Pacquiao and Mayweather far into the future.

Even if he moved back down to welterweight on a permanent basis, I doubt he would get a fight with Mayweather or Pacquiao. He’s just too difficult to fight because of his height and reach. Emanuel Steward said “Williams doesn’t have too many options available to him.” And that’s probably right. Sergio Martinez probably won’t be fighting him anytime soon, Kelly Pavlik is moving up in weight, and the light middleweight and middleweight divisions have few fighters that the boxing public care to see. Williams was much better off if he had stayed put at welterweight and bided his time until Mayweather and Pacquiao gave him a fight.