During being interviewed by Peter Heller for his great book "In This Corner"[ 1971,] Williams said that the night he beat Enrique Bolanos for the third and last time,[tko 4thrd 1949,] he would have staked his life on beating any light weight that ever lived. Does he have some substance to make this claim?
The absolute one thing a fighter needs is confidence in himself (herself too)...and Ike had the confidence of a great fighter...that gives this statement credence. He definitely has the substance to make a claim like that.
Show me a fighter who doesn't have an absolute abundance of confidence in himself and I'll bet he hasn't achieved much. That same absolute belief is what makes fighters who lose a fight simply refuse to belief it, and quickly provide an excuse for why they weren't at their best on the night. I struggled to make weight, I had the flu, I got injured in training, or the daddy of them all... ....I got poisoned
I can vouch for Ike's statement. Having seen the prime "uncuffed" Williams several times I feel he is the best lightweight I ever saw. I as a youngster traveled by bus to Philadelphia to watch Ike almost kill the powerful Beau Jack with powerfull flurries of devastating combination punching. At his best a Willie Pep or Sandy Saddler,great featherweights never dared to challenge Ike Williams to a bout, so feared was Williams, though Willie Pep tackled such lightweights as Sammy Angott, Willie Joyce, and Paddy DeMarco, Pep never challenged Ike to a bout that would make Willie a bundle. Saying this, when Ike was champion, he was not held in the esteem that the great Benny Leonard was held in by boxing writers who saw both...Loved to have seen Ike Williams at his LW best against the 135 pound Roberto Duran...
He could. I don't think he would, though. The odds are stacked against him. If I had to pick one, I'll take Duran of Dejesus III.
