Paul ?The Punisher? Williams squares of against Kermit Cintron in a scintillating match up on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Williams is an awesome physical specimen who is listed at 6’1, but who is probably closer to 6?3 and always has enormous physical advantages over his opponents. Surprisingly at six foot plus and 154 pounds Williams doesn?t have the look of a gaunt nutrient deprived athlete trying to make weight. He has broad shoulders and lithe muscles accompany his frame, kind of like that of an NBA shooting guard.
Williams started out his career with thirty-three straight victories which included a decision win over Antonio Margarito which garnered him the WBO world welterweight title in 2007. Williams subsequently lost his next bout against Puerto Rican spoiler Carlos Quintana, but avenged the loss with a devastating first round knockout in his very next fight. Quintana had upset the previously undefeated Joel Julio in 2006 and is a very awkward fighter, but Williams seemed lethargic in the first match which was probably caused by rapid weight loss involved in making the 147 pound limit. Williams still maintains that he can make welterweight, but most observers doubt it.
Still Williams along with Timothy Bradley is one of the most avoided fighters in the game. After regaining the WBO 147 pound title, he moved up to middleweight and brutally starched Andy Kolle in one round, a solid fighter who had gone six rounds with current WBA Super-Middleweight champion Andre Ward. Then Williams won the WBO interim 154 pound title with a stoppage victory over tough veteran Verno Phillips. During this entire time Williams begged for a fight against one of the world?s best fighters and challenged everybody from 147 to 168 pounds. Winky Wright who hadn?t fought in almost two years since losing a light-heavyweight title bout to Bernard Hopkins took the challenge and was completely dominated by Williams and lost a decision to the Punisher last April in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay.
With the impressive victory over Wright, Williams seemingly earned a fight with Kelly Pavlik until the Ohioan native pulled out on two separate occasions claiming injuries. As a result Williams took a fight against Sergio Martinez last December in a see-saw twelve round slugfest that was a candidate for fight of the year. Williams won close majority twelve round decision in a fight that many observers felt Martinez won. As a result he recieved quite a bit of criticism and numerous members of the boxing fraternity questioned his place among the best fighters in the world, but just last month Martinez won the world middleweight title when he ouclassed the mich bigger Pavlik so Paul?s performance against Martinez is actually looking a lot better now that people are realizing just how talented Martinez is. Plus that fight was at 160 pounds where Williams doesn?t enjoy so many physical advantages over his opponents as he does at 154 pounds. In a recent interview with the Examiner Martinez commented that “Williams is definitely better than Pavlik!”
Personally I don?t think there is a fighter in the world at or under 154 pounds who could beat Williams. Mayweather wouldn?t be able to outbox a guy with an 82 inch reach and Paul would have at list six inches in height and fifteen inches in reach over Manny Pacquiao. And he has a phenomenal work rate, often times throwing more than one hundred punches a round and in his fights with Margarito, Martinez, and Phillips he has displayed a very solid chin. Seriously folks, Paul Williams 38-1 (27) is special and unless his war with Martinez took a toll on him physically, fans in SoCal are going to be in for a treat on Saturday night as they watch one of the best fighters in the world go toe to toe with Kermit Cintron 32-2-1 (28) , a natural power puncher and one of the top contenders at Junior-Middleweight.
