By James Slater: Though he may well have disappeared off the radar of a number of fans due to his quick and decisive May 2010, 2nd-round TKO loss to Dereck Chisora, British warrior Danny Williams has not retired. Though he himself admitted he was a “shot” fighter after the loss to “Del Boy,” and went as far as announcing he was all done, Williams – who turns 38 today – retreated to Germany and, boxing on a Latvian licence, picked up two wins over so-so opposition.
The former Mike Tyson conqueror then went in with the unbeaten Manuel Charr on the Sturm-Macklin bill (SKY Sports declined to televise Danny’s fight) – losing via a somewhat controversial 7th-round TKO. Williams, looking in decent enough condition despite weighing 275-pounds, seemed to be on top in the 7th, as he unloaded a barrage of shots. Then, his face swollen badly, Williams saw the referee stop the fight as Charr fired back with a few of his own – there was just over a minute gone in the session at the time of the stoppage.
Had this been a higher profile fight, fans would likely have kicked up a fuss, but as Danny’s career looked to have been over for a while no-one moaned too loudly. But now, as has been reported by South London Press, Danny is expecting a rematch seeing as how “a few people have made a complaint to the German board.”
“You can see the fight on You-Tube, I was boxing really well,” Williams said. “We were both tired [in the 7th-round]and I unloaded 15 to 20 punches and then backed off to recover, he [Charr] threw about two back before pushing me and the ref jumped in to stop it. It was so premature. I’m expecting a rematch to be ordered. It was a complete joke. Next time I’ll have to stop my opponent of fight somewhere else.”
Clearly, Danny doesn’t sound like a guy planning on quitting any time soon. 26-year-old Lebanon-born Charr, 18-0(10), seems to be a decent enough fighter, if nothing special, and it’s true Williams had his moments against him. But while one can see why Danny is aggrieved at the admittedly quick stoppage from the referee, it’s unclear what a win would do for him if he managed to get one in a rematch. Williams, 43-10(33) has now been stopped six times and, as he admitted himself a while back, his punch resistance is nowhere near what it once was.
Danny, a great guy if ever there was one, seems to have a real problem giving up the sport he loves. But how much longer will the near-40-year-old continue to risk his health in the ring? We can only wish the gutsy warrior the best of luck with whatever career he has left.