How High Can the Punisher Climb? Profile of Paul “The Punisher” Williams
Paul “The Punisher” Williams, a tall and lanky natural southpaw and he has stepped up against some good opposition in recent years. “The Punisher” has given us the impressive performance’s the boxing community had anticipated against all recent fighters. Williams is a nine year pro coming off a fairly recent win against the feared Ronald “Winky” Wright.
The beckoning call begins…
Paul Williams started his boxing career after he got into a scuffle on his school bus. The bus driver suggested to Paul to use his energy in the boxing gym, and connected him with a manager and trainer. Williams fought only twenty to twenty-five fights as an amateur boxer before turning pro at age 19.
In his professional debut in 2000, Williams fought a total of 8 fights for the year. Paul earned an impressive 8-0 record with 7KO’s. He then marched his way up to an undefeated record in 2005. That year Williams outpointed former Olympic bronze medalist Terrence Cauthen, and later that year he knocked out Alfonso Sanchez in five rounds.
His second televised bout was against Sergio Rios. Winning by a knockout in the second round, Williams made his HBO debut against undefeated welterweight Walter Matthysse. Williams won this match, winning by a tenth round technical knockout. Paul Williams then went on to win a victory over former junior welterweight champion Sharmba Mitchell. Mitchell was knocked down three times en route to a fourth round technical knockout.
WBO Welterweight title
Paul “The Punisher” Williams became the mandatory challenger for WBO Welterweight champion Antonio Margarito. While other fighters often passed on opportunities to face Margarito, Williams made the bout happen via lawsuit so that he wouldn’t get avoided. On July 14, 2007, at the Home Depot center in Carson, CA the two fighters collided. Williams averaged over 100 punches per round constantly landing blows to the dismay of Margarito. Paul Williams ended up surviving a late rally from Margarito and winning the contest by unanimous decision and picked up the WBO Welterweight title.
Williams fought Carlos Quintana in February of 2008 in his first title defense. Williams was off to a slow start and was eventually cut over both eyes. Meanwhile, Quintana was busy fighting from the outside avoiding the long reach of Williams. At the end of the twelfth round, Paul Williams suffered his first professional loss to Carlos Quintana by unanimous decision in what was a huge upset and a poor showing from The Punisher.
Carlos Quintana and Paul Williams had a rematch at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut for the WBO Welterweight title. Williams was off to a quick start when a left hand blindsided Quintana and sent him into a daze as several follow-up barrages put Quintana down. Quintana beat the count, but Williams opened up with dozens of unanswered punches. As the referee proceeded to stop the bout, Quintana was on his way to the canvas for a second time. It was a first round knockout, and the perfect revenge for his first career loss.
Lacking fights at welterweight, “The Punisher,” then jumped up to middleweight to meet Andy Kolle. To no surprise Paul Williams dominated the fight from the start and recorded a first round knockout in 1:37 seconds.
Williams as a Light Middleweight
After failing to secure another meaningful contest at Welterweight, Williams vacated his WBO Welterweight title in order to fight Verno Phillips for the WBO interim Junior Middleweight title. On November 29, 2008, Williams defeated Phillips by way of TKO after 8 rounds, when the Doctor stopped the bout. Phillips won the first two rounds with a mix of body shots and jabs. From round three, Williams won every round behind his jab combinations and dominated the contest. Verno Phillips, with 20 years professional experience in the ring, was in excellent physical condition as was Williams who remained competitive as a counter puncher. In doing so, Paul Williams secured the WBO interim Middleweight title.
Paul Williams vs Ronald Wright
Paul Williams fought “Winky” Wright on April 11, 2009, in a 12 round Middleweight bout. Williams defeated Wright by unanimous decision which was not close on the scorecards. Two of the three judges gave Williams all but one round while the third judge scored all 12 rounds for Williams. It was a surprisingly dominant performance given Wright’s history in the ring as well as his the weight class in which the battle was fought.
Feared or Avoided?
With Paul Williams defeating former feared boxer Winky Wright, he has secured the label as most avoided fighter in boxing. He cemented that standing by beating two men who had previously claims to that title, Antonio Margarito and Winky Wright. However, not deterred; Paul Williams is looking to get back in the ring soon. A plethora of names have been linked to Williams like: Kelly Pavlik, Vernon Forrest and Bernard Hopkins. Interesting enough is Hopkins clearly stated that he would not fight the younger feared fighter. In the meantime Paul Williams is training for his next victim, ultimately waiting to punish them on fight night, and is still willing to make the welterweight limit for a big fight.
