The thing is, this could actually be a decent fight, we don't know. Paul is coming off a brutal KO, Ishida might jump him early to test that confidence that Paul needs to regain. I get the fact that its not what we would like to see as a main event, but its certainly possible that it could be a competitive fight. If they get something good on the undercard who know's, it could be a helluva night, and its not PPV so if you already have HBO, then screw, just enjoy it and you never know it could be a slugfest. I'm sure Ishida is going to really be prepared hoping to cash in on his ass whooping of Kirkland. I get it, not first choice, but I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt in this case.
This is a very good fight for PWill, against an ex champion who shocked the boxing world pretty good last time out. PWill needs a few tune-ups before challenging for a title again.
What took them so long to make this fight? July 9th is good though. Let them fight and then Paul Williams should challenge Manny Pacquiao. If Manny Pacquiao won't accept then he should go after someone like Ortiz or Alvarez.
I'm not too sure this will be a walk in the park. Ishida has decent speed and accuracy. He's tall and seems to know how to use his height. This is going to be a tough fight for Paul. Also, all of Ishida's losses were close decisions.
Why would he need a few tune ups? One should be enough. He's lost twice, and to Martinez who is in his prime and who nobody wants to challenge right now. I think Paul Williams could beat anybody including Martinez if he actually fights tall and learns to feint and use defense. He has weak defense, he fights small, and he paid for it with a shot to the chin. He has all the physical and intellectual tools to fight in a more technical although less crowd pleasing style. Sometimes you cannot please the crowd, and against a Martinez type fighter he's not going to just physically dominate, the same goes for Cintron.
I agree with most who say it's not a bad fight for Paul's comeback, but it shouldn't be an HBO main event. But at least that same night on Showtime we have Brandon Rios fighting Urbano Antillon in a guaranteed shoot out.
:rofl If Pakau won, would it be immediate rubbermatch time or would that set up Pakau-Pacquiao? :think
Ishida is not an easier opponent. He has very strong technical skills. He might be an unknown opponent, and it might look like an easy fight, but it wont be easy of Williams leaves his chin out and fights small. Williams will be jabbed into oblivion unless he actually stands tall, learns to use his jab and add some snap to his jab. The slapping jab isn't going to do anymore. He needs to develop an unorthodox snapping unpredictable untelegraphed jab. It should be used to break the opponents rhythm, to set distance, and to line his opponent up for power hooks, and a good fighter to watch would be Wlad, or Ward. They both have the perfect kind of jab that would serve Williams well.
It should be a main event. Williams is still a good fighter and Ishida is on a win streak. It might not be the sort of fight like Williams Martinez, but it's certainly a main event fight as enough people would watch it just because they know Paul Williams. Also if Williams wins impressively it puts him back in the mix with Pacquiao or Floyd should he try to drop his weight. People act like if you lose once you're done, but he beat the guy he lost to and has beaten every opponent he has ever faced.
Williams versus a Martirosyan or Mike Jones type opponent would have sufficed my liking. Winner perhaps gets a shot at one the the TR cash cows, (Cotto or Chavez.)