Indepth Danny Williams Interview

[WelshDevilRob]

Indepth Danny Williams Interview

 

by Ben Carey

 

Ahead of his final fight against Derek Chisora at Upton Park this Saturday, British heavyweight champion Danny Williams reflects on his incredible up-and-down career to BoxRec News’ Assistant Editor, Ben Carey.

 

BC: You turned pro in 1995 after a decent amateur career. What were your expectations back then?

 

DW: I thought I could win the British, Commonwealth and European belts before going on to challenge for the world title. Despite my success, I still believe I could have achieved more in my career. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time.

 

After beating Tyson had I been fortunate enough to fight someone like Nikolai Valuev like David Haye was, instead of Vitali Klitschko, I believe I would have smashed Valuev up and become world champion on that day. The same applies to when Matt Skelton challenged Ruslan Chagaev (for the WBA crown in 2008) – I would have knocked out Chagaev, too. It was just bad luck for me that my world title chance came against Klitschko.

 

BC: You’ve produced some dazzling performances but have also been blighted by inconsistency as well, illustrated none more so in your first defeat to Julius Francis. What do you put this down to?

 

DW: Everyone was talking about me as a potential future world champion and the pressure got to me on the night and I just didn’t perform. I’d sparred with Julius many times previously and basically played with him but when it came to fight him for real I couldn’t deal with people’s expectations which has hindered me in many fights.

 

The same thing happened when I was an amateur – everyone expected me to win the ABAs but I didn’t even win the South East Divs. In contrast, later that year in the amateurs I knocked out the Canadian champion when boxing for England and then the English super-heavyweight champion Danny Watts in 32 seconds. That’s Danny Williams all over, you never know what you’re going to get.

 

BC: After losing to Francis you re-established your reputation by remarkably stopping Mark Potter despite fighting with only one arm after dislocating your right shoulder. Surely one of the most satisfying nights of your career?

 

DW: When my shoulder went the pain was excruciating but it helped me to focus because I was desperate for the referee not to stop it. If you actually watch the fight you’ll notice that I started to box better when my shoulder went because I began to pop my jab out more. Then out of nowhere I caught him with the big uppercut which was an incredible feeling.

 

All my life I’ve been watching warriors like Rocky Marciano, Tony Zale and Jake LaMotta and I always wanted to be like them. It’s a shame that Marciano wasn’t alive when I beat Potter because I would have loved to have shown him the fight and asked for his opinion. Even now I still watch the Potter fight and think that it was amazing that I managed to win.

 

BC: You began 2004 by losing your British and Commonwealth titles to Michael Sprott, a man you had beaten twice previously, but six months later you travelled to Louisville, Kentucky and knocked out Mike Tyson. Did you honestly believe you could win?

 

DW: It was a crazy period in my career. After losing to Sprott some people advised me to retire but I knew I wasn’t finished. The Tyson fight came out of the blue but I was so excited to have the opportunity and put everything into training for the fight. I had a dream that I was going to win and If I was a betting man I would have remortgaged my house and gambled everything on it. On the day of the fight I was laughing and relaxed, I honestly believed I was going to do it although I didn’t think it would be that hard. Against Tyson no one expected anything from me which is why I was able to go out there and perform the way I did.

 

Tyson is by far and away the hardest puncher I’ve met. Fortunately, for me, Mike was 38 when I fought him and after he hit me with some big shots he wanted to hold and rest, which allowed my head to clear. Not only is Tyson a tremendous puncher, his speed is also amazing and I didn’t see half of his punches coming. However after the end of the third round, I could feel his pace slowing and at that point I knew I was getting to him. I was surprised when the end came in the fourth but when I had him going the fear of the man kept me throwing punches. In the end I think I landed 26 unanswered shots to knock him out.

 

BC: How did life change for you after recording a huge upset over Tyson?

 

DW: You may be surprised but financially things didn’t change that much. I earned more in some British title fights than I got from beating Tyson. I received £125,000 for Tyson but when you deduct your trainer and manager’s fees, along with the travelling expenses, I only cleared in the region of £80,000.

 

It was a privilege though to fight an all-time great in Tyson, a boxer I admired so much. Life changed a lot when I returned home. I was getting 20 or 30 calls a day from people wanting to speak to me – everyone in Britain and America seemed to know who I was. Even now, people know me for the Tyson fight. It’s remarkable how one fight can signify your whole career.

 

http://static.boxrec.com/wiki/0/07/Klitschko_Williams_Poster.jpg

 

BC: On the back of beating Tyson you earned a world title shot against Vitali Klitschko but unfortunately absorbed a terrible beating, eventually losing in the eighth round after being floored four times. What went wrong?

 

DW: I didn’t think Klitschko was as good as he was. When you study him he looks quite basic. It’s not like watching someone like Floyd Mayweather Jnr and thinking “wow, what a beautiful mover,”. As soon as I got in with Vitali I realised that he hits so bloody hard and his defence is impeccable as well. He’s also an expert in judging distance as he is able to land his own shots without taking any in return. Vitali’s a very awkward guy to be beat which he showed against Lennox Lewis.

 

I took a career-changing amount of punishment against Klitschko, mainly because of my heart. Had the referee allowed me to carry on I’d still have been boxing now. I’ve got a Rocky Marciano mentality in that I want to keep fighting until I win. I do think the Klitschko fight probably took a lot out of me.

 

BC: After losing to Klitschko, you returned to Britain and still had enough to end the unbeaten records of Matt Skelton and Audley Harrison. Where does Harrison rank as one of the most pleasing wins of your career?

 

DW: Beating Harrison was a very satisfying victory because he was mouthing off all the time. I was surprised afterwards how many members of the British public wanted me to beat Audley. I had old ladies coming up to me in the supermarket hugging me because they were so pleased that I’d beaten him. Prior to him turning professional I had no problem with Audley Harrison, but once he turned pro he came out with comments that he could win the British title in five fights which I thought was disrespectful and I wasn’t his biggest fan after that.

 

Audley has good skills and because of his size, and the fact that he’s a southpaw, I still believe if he gets in the right frame of mind that he can achieve something in his career. If you keep the skills of Audley Harrison and combine them with the mentality of Martin Rogan you’d have a world champion there.

 

BC: You accepted a rematch with Harrison at short notice and were destroyed in three rounds. How difficult was it for you to lose to your arch enemy in such a one-sided fashion?

 

DW: It was a very hard lesson for me to learn. I wasn’t supposed to fight Harrison that night, he was down to fight Matt Skelton, but when Skelton pulled out I took the fight at five days notice. This has been documented but the only thing people seem to recall is that I got smashed up. It was a very painful loss and I really regret taking the fight. This is why I ultimately decided to turn down the chance to fight Harrison for the European title on 9th April because again I would have been fighting him at short notice.

 

BC: Despite experiencing a shattering loss to Harrison, you regrouped and shed three stone to regain your British title by stopping Wales’ then unbeaten Scott Gammer. Was this an admission that you had been fighting too heavy previously?

 

DW: On my scales before the Gammer fight I was 19 stone but when I weighed-in against Gammer it said I was 16st 4lbs. I do not know how that could be possible, to this day I can’t explain it, but there’s no way I could get to 16st 4. I was still eating exactly what I wanted while I was training for Gammer and I refuse to believe that I could weigh as little as that.

 

BC: In May 2008, following some highly dubious officiating, you were given three counts and deducted three points against the unbeaten Konstantin Airich in Pais Vasco, Spain before you rallied to stop Airich in round seven.

 

DW: That was a crazy fight. In the lead-up, Airich’s promoter and manager were acting as though they were my friends but as soon as I got into the ring it became apparent that they were 100% against me. I couldn’t believe it when I was battering him in the sixth round and they rang the bell when there was still well over a minute left in the round! It was obvious then that something funny was going on.

 

BC: After defending your British title with back-to-back points victories over John McDermott, you elected to enter Prizefighter along with Audley Harrison. However, you crashed out in the quarter-finals after being dropped twice and eventually outpointed by the unheralded Carl Baker. Do you regret your decision to enter the tournament?

 

DW: It was a mistake for me to enter Prizefighter as the three-round format didn’t suit me. I should have known better as I’ve been a relatively slow starter throughout my career. I had an inkling that I would have landed a European title shot had I won Prizefighter (which was ultimately secured by the tournament’s winner, Audley Harrison) so I thought entering was worth the risk but it didn’t work out for me.

 

There was no way I was going to go out like that. Losing to Baker hurt me badly but I have a Rocky Marciano heart and I want to come back and show people that I can still compete at this level one last time as I’ve proven many, many times before.

 

 

Source: http://news.boxrec.com/news/2010/brixton-bomber%E2%80%99s-last-stand-danny-williams-depth-interview

[Wheelchair]

Great read, thanks Rob! deal//