19.07.08 – By Andrew Walker: British Heavyweight champion Danny Williams (40-6-1 NC) won a surprising victory over John McDermott (25-4) at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre, Dagenham, England last night over twelve rounds of boxing. The fact that Danny won the contest was not that surprising in itself as he was the odds on favourite to win and to win big and early by most observers’ pre fight predictions.. John McDermott was given little chance of beating the more skilled and experienced champion after his last assault at the title in 2005 when the then British champion Matt Skelton destroyed him inside a round.
Indeed it looked like Danny Williams was in for a quick night after the first round with McDermott looking like he had little or no confidence for the task in hand. Had Williams kept up the pressure he could possibly have stopped McDermott in the second round but Williams decided to try and finish off the big Essex man with one punch which proved to be less successful then the previous tactic of throwing combinations and pressuring the less talented McDermott.
By round three McDermott’s corner had to virtually push their fighter out to continue as his confidence and appetite to box on had all but disappeared. Over the next two rounds neither fighter did much to try and win the fight with Williams still looking to end it with one big shot and McDermott doing little else but hold on and to paw out a jab. McDermott was there for the taking but the “Brixton Bomber” did not use his boxing skills to take advantage of this and continued to plod on, content he was in front and in little danger from being stopped by his opponent. This was all to change in round five.
McDermott caught William’s with a terrific shot and had the Londoner in danger. He continued his assault and caught Williams several more times with good clean blows that would have finished off most fighters campaigning at this level. In fact Williams was fortunate that the fight was not stopped as referee Dave Parris took more then one concerned look at Williams but despite the barrage Danny held on to survive the round. Just.
Round six and McDermott had a bit of a spring in his step now and even some snap in his jab as his confidence rose after he discovered that he could hurt Williams in the previous round. Both boxers looked tired now though and quickly settled back into the pace of the early rounds with little work being done by either to win the fight. Referee Dave Parris had spoken to Williams on several occasions during the fight for low blows but by the eleventh round his patience had finally worn out and he halted proceedings to dock a point from Williams for yet another low blow.
As Parris waved the fight back on Williams pushed McDermott’s head away which then earned him another point deduction. Due to the big round five for McDermott which the judges may have scored as a 10-8 and then the following point deductions, the McDermott camp thought that as long as big John did not get knocked out or put down in the final round they had the fight in the bag and would be taking the belt from Williams. The final round was another messy affair with Williams spitting out his gum shield again and for me McDermott did just enough to take the round so he was looking good for the belt.
After the fight Danny Williams looked like a man who knew he had lost whilst John McDermott looked ecstatic as did his corner who thought the decision was in little doubt. Richie Davies scored the bout 113-113 a draw (same as me), Marcus McDonnell scored it 114-113 (in favour of Williams) and Mark Green scored the bout 114-111 (in favour of Williams).
There is little doubt that Danny Williams is a far better boxer then John McDermott and that Williams did just enough to win the fight. But with the point deductions it should have been a draw. Williams wants another World title shot and said that he will probably vacate the belt to let McDermott and other British fighters of his calibre fight for the right to become British heavyweight champion. Danny is looking for a fight with Sam Peters the WBC heavyweight champion. If the right Danny turns up for that fight he has a chance as Peters is hardly a great champion. But more than likely the wrong Williams will turn up and he will get starched in four. Without David Haye the British heavyweight division is in tatters right now.