Paul Williams (boxer) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Paul Williams is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

and is the former two-time WBO

World Boxing Organization

The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...

welterweight champion.

With a height of six-feet-one inch, Paul is considered extremely tall for the three divisions he campaigns in: Welterweight

Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...

, Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight

Middleweight

Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...

; he has defeated world champions such as Winky Wright

Winky Wright

Ronald Lamont "Winky" Wright is an American boxer, the former undisputed world light middleweight champion and a current middleweight contender....

, Sergio Martínez

Sergio Gabriel Martínez

Sergio Gabriel Martínez is an Argentine professional boxer and the current The Ring middleweight champion....

, Kermit Cintron

Kermit Cintron

Kermit Cintrón is a Puerto Rican boxer who is from Carolina, Puerto Rico. Cintrón is trained by Ronnie Shields and managed by Josh Dubin. He is promoted by Top Rank.-Early and personal life:...

, Carlos Quintana

Carlos Quintana (boxer)

Carlos Quintana is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur Quintana represented Puerto Rico. He debuted as a professional in 1997. On February 24, 2006, he participated in his first professional championship fight, defeating Raul Bejerano for the World Boxing Organization's Latino...

and Antonio Margarito

Antonio Margarito

Antonio Margarito Montiel is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a former WBA, WBO, & IBF welterweight champion...

Early years at welterweight

His debut was in the year 2000, and he is promoted by the Goossens. In 2005 he outpointed former Olympic bronze medalist Terrence Cauthen, and later that year, he knocked out Alfonso Sanchez in 5 rounds.
His ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

debut was a second round knockout of Sergio Rios on Wednesday Night Fights. Williams made his HBO debut against undefeated Walter Matthysse

Walter Matthysse

Walter Matthysse is a male light middleweight boxer from Argentina. His younger brother Lucas Matthysse is also a boxing contender. Matthysse made his professional debut on October 4, 2002 against Juan Roberto Vilchez.-References:...

, winning by a tenth round technical knockout. That was followed by a victory over former junior welterweight world champion Sharmba Mitchell

Sharmba Mitchell

Sharmba David Mitchell , known professionally as Sharmba Mitchell, is a boxer who was WBA light welterweight champion.Mitchell, nicknamed "Little Big Man", is a native of Takoma Park, Maryland, but a resident of Washington, D.C.....

. He knocked Mitchell down three times en route to a fourth round TKO.

WBO welterweight title

Williams became the mandatory challenger for WBO

World Boxing Organization

welterweight champion Antonio Margarito

Antonio Margarito

Antonio Margarito Montiel is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a former WBA, WBO, & IBF welterweight champion...

. The match took place July 14, 2007, in Carson, California

Carson, California

Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....

, at the Home Depot Center with Williams winning a unanimous decision.
Williams fought Carlos Quintana

Carlos Quintana (boxer)

on February 9, 2008 in his first defense of his title. Williams lost to Quintana by decision.

Williams and Quintana had a rematch at the Mohegan Sun Arena

Mohegan Sun Arena

The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Uncasville, Connecticut located inside Mohegan Sun. The arena facility features of configurable exhibition space and a clear span...

in Uncasville, Connecticut

Uncasville, Connecticut

Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut. The area traditionally known as Uncasville is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River...

on June 7, 2008 for the WBO welterweight title. Williams got off to a quick start when a left hand sent Quintana into a daze as several follow-up barrages put Quintana down. He got up, but Williams opened up with dozens of unanswered punches as the referee jumped in to stop the fight while Quintana was going down again.

Williams was rumored to be moving up two weight classes to fight Kelly Pavlik

Kelly Pavlik

Kelly Pavlik is an American professional boxer. He was The Ring, WBC, & WBO middleweight champion from when he beat Jermain Taylor on September 29, 2007 until he lost his titles to Sergio Martinez on April 17, 2010....

for the WBC Middleweight Title but instead Pavlik has decided to move up two weight classes himself to fight Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins Jr, known as The Executioner is an American boxer and the current Ring Magazine and WBC light heavyweight champion...

. Williams fought Andy Kolle

Andy Kolle

Andy Kolle alias Kaos is a middleweight professional boxer from Minnesota.-Professional career:Kolle made his professional debut with a 3rd round knockout win against Nick Whiting on March 6, 2004. As of November 2010 Kolle’s professional record was 23-2 with 17 wins by knockout...

on September 25. Williams dominated the fight from the start and recorded a first round knockout in 1:37 seconds.

Light middleweight

After failing to secure another meaningful contest at welterweight, Williams vacated his WBO welterweight title in order to fight Verno Phillips

Verno Phillips

Verno Jeremias Phillips , is a professional boxer in the Light Middleweight division.- Career :Phillips turned pro in 1988 and captured the Vacant WBO Light Middleweight Title in 1993 with a win over Lupe Aquino...

for the WBO Interim Junior Middleweight title.

On November 29, 2008, Williams defeated Phillips by way of TKO after 8 rounds after the Doctor stopped the fight. In doing so he secured the WBO interim junior middleweight title.

Winky Wright

Williams fought Winky Wright

Winky Wright

Ronald Lamont "Winky" Wright is an American boxer, the former undisputed world light middleweight champion and a current middleweight contender....

on April 11, 2009, in a 12-round middleweight bout featured on HBO. Williams defeated Wright in a unanimous decision which was not close on the scorecards – two of the three judges gave Williams all but one round while the third scored all 12 rounds for Williams.

Williams was then preparing to fight middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in a bout scheduled to take place on October 3, 2009 in Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...

. The bout was postponed when it was discovered Pavlik had a staph infection in his knuckle and had been rescheduled for December 5. However, the bout was called off for a second time six weeks prior to the fight because Pavlik's infection had not completely healed.

Sergio Martínez

On December 5, 2009 Paul Williams fought Sergio Martínez

Sergio Gabriel Martínez

Sergio Gabriel Martínez is an Argentine professional boxer and the current The Ring middleweight champion....

in a war of a twelve round main event. In the first round Martinez was knocked down due to bad balance and a grazing left hand. In the final seconds of the 1st round though Martinez scored a knockdown of his own over Williams. The next two rounds were heavily in Martinez's favor as he hit Williams with barrages of counter punches. Rounds 4-7 showed Williams coming back effectively landing hard lefts to the head of Martinez. In rounds 8-11 Martinez again confused Williams with using different varieties of punches, including straight lead lefts to the body followed by right hooks to the head and straight lefts to the face. The 12th and final round showed much fatigue in Martinez and Williams but the warriors fought through to the end. Williams won a close majority decision over Martinez with the judges scoring; Pierre Benoist 119-110 for Williams, Lynn Carter 115-113 for Williams and Julie Lederman 114-114. Afterward both fighters expressed interest in a possible rematch.

Kermit Cintron

After his close win over Sergio Martínez, Paul Williams moved on to face fighter Kermit Cintrón

Kermit Cintron

Kermit Cintrón is a Puerto Rican boxer who is from Carolina, Puerto Rico. Cintrón is trained by Ronnie Shields and managed by Josh Dubin. He is promoted by Top Rank.-Early and personal life:...

. The two met on May 8, 2010 Live on Saturday Night HBO Boxing. In the fourth round, Kermit Cintron fell out of the ring unintentionally and was not allowed to continue fighting due to hitting the arena floor. Williams was ahead on two of the three judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage and was declared the winner by split technical decision. Cintron, who believed he should have been ahead on the scorecards, filed a complaint to have the ruling changed to a no-contest, claiming he was not given the five minute recovery time allowed under California rules.

Williams vs Martinez II

A rematch with Sergio Martinez eventually materialized in form of a bout held at Boardwalk Hall

Boardwalk Hall

Boardwalk Hall, formally known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is an arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States...

, Atlantic City, New Jersey on November 20, 2010. Upon Williams insistence, the fight was contested at the catchweight limit of 158 pounds instead of the middleweight limit of 160 with Martinez's WBC Middlweight title on the line. The fight was billed as a potential "fight-of-the-year," however the fight ended abruptly and dramatically when Sergio Martinez

Sergio Gabriel Martínez

Sergio Gabriel Martínez is an Argentine professional boxer and the current The Ring middleweight champion....

delivered a knockout blow with 2:02 left in the 2nd round of the scheduled 12 round fight. The punch was a short left hook that caught Williams right on the chin, as he attempted to deliver a left-hand of his own. Williams' right hand was at his waist when the punch landed, rendering Paul Williams unconscious upon contact.

Erislandy Lara

On July 9, 2011, Paul Williams fought in a light middleweight contest in Atlantic City against former Cuban amateur sensation Erislandy Lara. Throughout the fight, Lara repeatedly hit Williams with hard left hands and appeared to have won the fight convincingly in the eyes of the HBO crew and those sitting at ringside. However, the judges awarded Williams with a narrow majority decision, a highly controversial verdict that ultimately led to the suspension of the three judges by the New Jersey Athletic Control Board.

Professional boxing record

Sergio Martínez

Sergio Gabriel Martínez

Sergio Gabriel Martínez is an Argentine professional boxer and the current The Ring middleweight champion....

Kermit Cintrón

Kermit Cintron

Kermit Cintrón is a Puerto Rican boxer who is from Carolina, Puerto Rico. Cintrón is trained by Ronnie Shields and managed by Josh Dubin. He is promoted by Top Rank.-Early and personal life:...

Sergio Martínez

Sergio Gabriel Martínez

Sergio Gabriel Martínez is an Argentine professional boxer and the current The Ring middleweight champion....