16.03.06 – By Dan Scog: It’s a thankless profession. With thirty-five wins and four losses Danny Williams is still referred to (even by the BBC!) as a fighter who “blows hot and cold.” Can you even imagine another sport or trade where a 90% success rate is considered hit and miss? And boxing fans themselves are not even as positive as the BBC in this case. It seems to me like Danny Williams has been written off more times than other fighter in the sport..
After Williams was matched up with Mike Tyson the “smart money” people promised that he’d be little more than a doormat. After the upset, the same guys jumped at the chance to disparage a faded Tyson rather than to praise a talented Williams. I think Danny himself put it best directly after the fight: “Yeah, he’s forty percent, but Mike Tyson’s forty percent is better than most people’s one-hundred percent.”
Even after his loss to Vitali Klitschko the focus was always put on how many times he went down, not how many times he got up. Vitali himself nicknamed Williams “Iron Chin” in post-fight comments. “It was amazing. I threw so many punches, but he has a big heart…He has a lot of respect from me. I was surprised how strong his chin was…” How was it possible that he earned respect from Klitschko himself and only calls for retirement from the fans? The song and dance from his critics pretty much stayed the same since then, against Audley Harrison and now for Skelton: talk heaps of trash about Danny and how he’s about to get pounded, then after he beats the odds you take it out on his “worthless” opponent. It’s been a not-so-subtle strategy for ringside analysts who want to avoid eating their humble pie. But with another world title shot on the horizon for the Brixton Bomber, it’s time they stuff their faces.
I know full well it doesn’t make any sense for me to be pulling for a Danny Williams’ a title shot. He’s already had his chance. He’s been one loss away from retirement ever since the Klitschko fight and it’s hard to forsee him defending any belt he won much less unify the awfully splintered heavyweight division. And of course going into any fight for a title he’ll be made the longshot by bookies and fans alike. Yet, somehow I can’t help but sincerely wish for Danny to beat the odds one more time.
Danny Williams has always been every bit as much a contradiction as, say, exiled middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins. On the one hand, Williams with his trademark beard has the appearance of royalty. He comes off as much wiser and experienced than his thirty-four years would suggest. In pre-fight photo ops he looks like he could be a Shakespearian actor preparing to audition for title role in Othello. On the other hand, his gap-toothed smile at worst conjures up images of the guy who lives at the local train station warning commuters about the impending Apocalypse and at best would lead you think he was a Hockey player. In interviews and conversation he’s jovial and good natured. At the same time his behavior is known to be very erratic leading up to a fight – whether it be training on Mr. Kipling cakes, taping weights to his legs at weigh-in, or simply not being present during press conferences. On any other fighter, one of these things would be considered a quirk, but all of them and then people start to question your head. Is it wrong to worry? No, but let’s give the guy a break.
Frankly, it doesn’t look like a new king of the heavyweight division will be crowned anytime soon, so who gives a toss if Danny Williams, the perennial underdog, goes out on top? He’ll only be taking out some of the garbage and it wouldn’t break my heart to see VACANT in place of any of the current champs.
A few weeks ago Williams all but assured himself another go at a world title (even if he is too injured to underline it with another win in Glasgow) decision win over British champion Matt Skelton. The same fans that will score a fight for Winky Wright over Sam Soliman by ignoring ring generalship and putting emphasis on power punches will switch positions and whine that Skelton should have been awarded the fight for the opposite reasons. Why say that Williams should’ve started to fire off on Skelton earlier? Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve.Why not say that the 12th round should’ve gone on for thirty seconds more? Skelton was done then and it’s a crime that the decision was a split one – especially with Skelton’s blatant fouling. A rematch shouldn’t be out of the question, but Williams is right to look to the future. While nursing his recent training injury, the most likely match-up is against the towering Nikolay Valuev for the WBA title, but with Valuev already set to fight in the spring, it could be a while before it happens. It looks like Danny will have some time to enjoy Mr. Kipling cakes and bask in another “impossible” victory. Hope he enjoys a Snickers bar for me, before training gets serious again.