Paul Williams to move down to welterweight
It looks as though Paul “The Punisher” Williams will be restricting his punishing to the welterweight level.
Following a brutal second knockout at the hands of Sergio Martinez this weekend, Williams’ promoter Dan Goossen confirmed that he may be returning to welterweight indefinitely to recollect, boxingscene.com reports.
In the past, Williams floated between welterweight (147 pounds) and middleweight (160), with an extremely difficult time securing bouts at the welterweight level due to his tremendous height and reach. Williams stands at 6'3" with an 81-inch reach, seldom
if ever found at the welterweight level.
"In the future, we'll be looking to avenge any loss,” Goossen said. “The last time Paul lost he took an immediate rematch and turned the tables around. I'd like to talk to Paul, George [Peterson] and Al [Haymon] about getting back into that 147-pound division
and trying to stay there for a while," the promoter suggested.
Martinez’s promoter, Lou Dibella, agrees that a welterweight move may be best for Williams. In a candid conversation, Dibella told Williams that a move down from 160 to 154 or even 147 would be best.
"I gave Paul my two cents, that he's not a middleweight,” Dibella explained. “He's the best welterweight in the world and he may very well be the best junior middleweight, as long as Sergio stays away from that division.”
Martinez and Williams touched gloves Saturday night in one of the most anticipated bouts of the year. Many had anticipated that the bout would mirror their first, in which both fighters were floored early and gave it their all for twelve memorable rounds.
The fight Saturday appeared relatively even until Martinez landed a brutal left that rearranged Williams’ face and sent him face-first to the canvas. Williams was totally unable to respond to the referee, who counted as Martinez realized what he had done.
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