Denver, CO — DaVarryl “Touch of Sleep” Williamson (24-4, 20 KO) will risk his World Boxing Association #4 rating when he steps into the ring on October 6, 2007 vs. Jameel “Big Time” McCline (38-7, 23 KO) at Madison Square Garden in New York in a scheduled 10-round bout. Williamson is coming off of a KO win in a stay-busy fight vs. Maurice Wheeler (10-10) back in July 2007; and most recently Williamson was in camp with Vitali Klitschko as his chief sparring partner. Ironically, it was Williamson preparing Vitali to face Jameel McCline, but when Klitschko suffered a back injury, the fight was scrapped.
“Vitali’s injury was unfortunate, but it has opened up a door for me. I could have just sat on my rating and waited it out, but I don’t want to be that type of fighter. McCline represents a big opportunity for me to make a splash and get back into the mix of things.” said Williamson.
The 37-year old McCline is coming off a TKO (3) loss to former WBA Titlist Nicolay Valuev, a fight that ended suddenly when McCline suffered a horrendous knee injury, one that left him with torn tendons and a dislocated knee-cap. At 6’6″, 270 lbs, McCline is a tall order, but his size is not at all a concern to Williamson. “I fight big guys well. Look at my track record. Jameel is just another big man in my way” says Williamson “Word on the street is that King signed Jameel and promised him a shot at Chagaev if he beats me; well what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, so I fully expect to be facing Ruslan Chagaev for his World Boxing Association Title in early 2008 when I defeat McCline.”
One look at his track record and you’ll quickly see that the 6’4″, 225lbs Williamson does indeed fight big men well. His record vs. opponents over 6’4″ tall is an impressive 5-1, 5 KOs. He owns wins over Corey “T-Rex” Sanders (6’6″, 310lbs), Kevin McBride (6’6″, 270lbs), Andre Kopilov (6’8″, 250lbs), Ed White (6’6″, 270lbs) and Derrick “D-Train” Jefferson (6’6″, 240lbs). Additionally, Williamson fought competitively vs. current IBF Heavyweight Champion, and the universally recognized “best” heavyweight in the world; Wladimir Klitschko (6’6″, 240 lbs), depositing the big man on the canvas when they clashed in October 2004, a boxing fight that Williamson lost via split technical decision when Klitschko suffered a severe cut.
The Williamson-McCline bout will be under card support to the World Boxing Council World Heavyweight Championship bout between Samuel Peter and Oleg Maskaev on October 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY. The Peter-Maskaev clash will be televised by Showtime at 10 PM (ET/PT)