Handlers Say Fighters 'Fear' Williams

George Peterson claims not to know why Paul "The Punisher" Williams is among the most feared boxers in the sport.

And then he gives a perfect argument as to why.

"Walter Mathese was 25 fights with 24 knockouts. Nobody wanted to fight him. Paul fought him and stopped him. Antonio Margarito was most feared. Nobody wanted to fight him. Paul got in there and beat the breaks off of him. Then it was Winky Wright. This goes on and on," said Peterson, Williams manager and trainer.

"Paul will fight anybody from 147-to-160 right now -- whether it's Manny Pacquiao, or Miguel Cotto, or Andre Berto, or Shane Mosley. It doesn't matter," said Peterson. "I can't understand why everyone calls everyone else out, but nobody calls out Paul Williams. All that we want to do is to get their butts into the ring."

A two-time welterweight and one-time junior middleweight champion, Williams (37-1, 27 knockouts) will take on Sergio Martinez (44-1, 24 KOs) in a Dec. 5, nontitle middleweight (160 pounds) clash of southpaws in Atlantic City.

Williams was forced into having as a replacement, Martinez, when his original opponent, WBO and WBC middleweight titlist Kelly Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs), canceled their bout due to a staph infection on the knuckle of his left forefinger that has plagued him for months.

But not long after Williams signed to fight Martinez, Pavlik announced his Dec. 19 matchup with Miguel Espino in his native Youngstown, Ohio.

"Kelly Pavlik pulled out twice. People are still afraid to get into the ring with Paul, but he's on the threshold of breaking through and becoming a real star in our sport," said Williams' promoter, Dan Goossen.

"A few more consistent wins and there will be no stopping him," said Goossen. "After that, I believe that, despite the fact that he's the most feared fighter in the sport, you're going to have people willing to go in there because of the money that they can make."
For now, Williams, 28, will have to start with the 34-year-old Martinez, who brings the confidence of having gone 28-0-1 with 18 knockouts since February of 2000. That's when Martinez was stopped in seven rounds by Antonio Margarito, whom Williams decisioned unanimously in July of 2007.

"The difference is going to be how rapidly I fight. I am very fast. I am much faster than Paul Williams. and I'm going to throw a lot more punches and that's going to be the difference," said Martinez, who is coming off of February's draw with Kermit Cintron.

"I have matured a lot since my fight with Margarito. It has been almost 10 years, and I have changed a lot -- mainly because of my fight against Kermit Cintron, which made me a lot tougher and a lot more confident," said Martinez.

"I would consider staying at middleweight because I would love to fight Kelly Pavlik because for sure I will win against Paul Williams," said Martinez. "I am a lot faster than Paul and I don't take as many punches as he does. I am going to win by knockout and I am sure of it."

The fact that Martinez is a southpaw won't be a problem, said Williams, who avenged his lone defeat -- a decision by left-hander, Carlos Quintana -- by first-round knockout in their return bout.

"It's not that I have trouble with left-handers, I just had an off-night. I think that I proved that in my second fight with Quintana. I made up for that in my second fight," said Williams.

"I don't think that it's difficult fighting a left-hander. I look at all fighters the same," said Williams. "It doesn't matter if he's a left-hander or a right-hander. I just deal with the fighter that's in front of me."

Goossen wishes that opponent was Mosley, the 38-year-old who angered the promoter with his statements during a Nov. 14, Las Vegas press conference announcing a Jan. 30 challenge for the WBC welterweight belt owned by Andre Berto.

Addressing the notion that he side-stepped Berto (25-0, 19 knockouts) in favor of a more lucrative bout with Margarito, Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) said, "I didn't go for the person who was considered to be the lesser opponent, but the more difficult opponent, and that's just the fighter that I am."

"This is not so much about Andre Berto, it's just that I want to be the best that I can possibly be every time that I go into the ring. I want the fans and the people to know that I'm the best fighter," said Mosley, who has won his last two bouts over former world champions Margarito, and, Ricardo Mayorga, by knockouts in the ninth, and, 12th rounds, respectively.

"It's nothing about taking this out on Andre Berto, I just want to show the fans and everybody that I'm the best fighter. If I can't get the Manny Pacquiaos or the Floyd Mayweathers, and they go off into the sunset, then so be it. I'll still be here," said Mosley, the WBA's super champion.

"And I've got three or four years to do that...I have like four more years that I can reach $20 million," said Mosley. "As long as I keep fighting and stay in shape and don't take anybody for granted. As long as I keep doing that, these guys are in trouble."

Goossen hopes Mosley soon adds Williams to his list of targeted opponents.

"We've tried on numerous occasions to get Shane into the ring. .I have personally approached Shane and there have been overtures to Golden Boy [Promotions]. They knew that the fight was easy to make from our end, and Shane has 100 percent made it known that he will not get into the ring with Paul Williams," said Goossen.

"And then he says that no one will fight him at 147 and that he's the best welterweight in the world," said Goossen. "Just say that you're the best behind Paul Williams, and we've got no problem. Paul Williams would get down to 147 and fight a Shane Mosley no problem."

Former world champion, Winky Wright, who has twice beaten Mosley but has lost to Williams, recently shed light on why he believes fighters avoid Williams.

"Paul is, what -- 6-foot-2, and has arms like a giant? And he throws a billion punches a round? [That's why] a lot of people just don't want to fight him," said Wright, who lost a one-sided, unanimous decision to Williams.

"The point was, 'Could I catch him?' That's was my whole thing. I just wanted to catch him. From the early rounds, I said, 'Let me just work him, try to make him get tired,'" said Wright.

"But he stayed fresh. Shorty just kept throwing punches, kept throwing punches, kept throwing punches," said Wright. "So I'm like, 'Let me pick off some of his shots, and then, maybe I can catch him and hurt him.' But he was rolling with a lot of punches. He really wouldn't let me get in that one, good shot. "
"I think that Paul Williams is the most avoided fighter between 147 and 168 pounds, and I think that he is a threat to everyone because of his imposing size and his work rate."
-- Lou DiBella
Sergio Martinez's promoter
Wright's assessment was echoed by Martinez's promoter, Lou DiBella, during a recent conference call for their upcoming clash.

"I think that Paul Williams is the most avoided fighter between 147 and 168 pounds, and I think that he is a threat to everyone because of his imposing size and his work rate. The guy is a great fighter," said DiBella.

"But he is fighting a great champion, and on Dec. 5, Martinez is going to prove that he is the most dominant fighter in the weight class at 154. I've got to give Paul credit for taking this fight," said DiBella. "Because frankly, it is a much more difficult fight than a Pavlik fight with less reward. I know that your family knows that Martinez is a much more difficult fight than a Pavlik who I thought that Paul was going to cut right through."

Williams insists, nevertheless, that he is focused on the task at hand, which is efficiently dispatching of Martinez -- by knockout or otherwise. Peterson said that he likes the way Martinez is talking because "that is the attitude that we need for Paul to knock him out."

"I'm happy that he is confident," said Williams. "They all talk like that until they get into the ring, and when the bell rings, they start taking the punches that I'm throwing."

"[Martinez] has no pop and it's evident that Paul has a chin of granite. We don't know how long this guy is going to withstand that punishment," said Peterson. "But [Martinez] has been knocked out once, and that proves that he can be knocked out again."