Williams is one of my favorite fighters, but he was in a pretty poor era of 175, and he didn't get the chance to fight many notables due to his poor management. Best remembered for his double blowout of Bobby Czyz, his other violent duology against Merqui Sosa, as well as a competitive loss to James Toney (in which he moved down to 168). He was a sharp puncher with a good jab and fierce combinations- reigning for just over 5 years as the IBF champ. Checking the forum, it seems that most value him as the second, third, or fourth best LHW of the era post-Spinks and pre-Jones/Michalczewski. I personally think that he'd lose to Hill, but beat guys like Moorer, Andries, Harding, etc. His best wins are over Bobby Czyz x2, James Kinchen, Frankie Swindell, Anthony Witherspoon, James Salerno, Freddie Delgado, Vincent Boulware, and Jeff Lampkin. ATG resume, ik. The title is fairly self explanatory, who are the best light heavyweight fighters that you think Williams would beat?
Was an excellent fighter one of my favourites. Would now be king Charles Williams !!! Could out work Qawi I think
I don't consider Charles Wiliams a LHW contender because he never fought for the main belt. He was clearly much better then some guys who did and he might have been the 2nd,3rd,4th best LHW or whatever he was ranked but he never made a move to prove that. Williams beat 3 Virgil Hill title opponents Czyz, Kinchen and Angulo and 2 Michael Moorer title opponents. An EBU champ in Caramoulis. Williams lost to the 2 best contenders he fought in Marvin Johnson and Maske and he lost to WBU LHW champ James Toney who if counted would probably be third. None of those fights were particularly close either. While as champion Williams fought a better SOS then Moorer and Toney I would consider both to be better 175ers then Williams. And if I had to guess Williams was a lower top 10 guy who was ranked in the top 5 because he held a belt. Though at certain points when Moorer was gone he might have been like 4th? I would pick Williams to beat Thomas Hearns and Iran Barkley who were LHW lineal champs during his reign. And at that moment Williams was the best LHW beltholder. But that didn't mean Williams was the best LHW or the only one who could beat those two especially with Barkley. And Hearns is a fight Williams would probably barely win. 5.5/10 sorta fight. On Hearns career night Williams would have lost worse then Hill did. 175 got better at the end of Williams's career I wouldn't exactly call it a pretty poor era so much as it got totally outshined by what came next. But Williams was young enough to be part of that if he was good enough.
Probably Mike Rossman. To put that in perspective, I’d make him a solid underdog to everyone else on this list, which is just the top of the division in the late 1970s/early 1980s, with all of these guys overlapping: Michael Spinks Matthew Saad Muhammad Eddie Mustafa Muhammad Marvin Johnson James Scott Yaqui Lopez John Conteh Dwight Muhammad Qawi Victor Emilio Galindez Mike Rossman So by my reckoning he barely cracks the top 10 in that era. And maybe not.
Williams was a solid fighter. He may not beat all the top men, but, he would be a solid, legit contender in almost any era. One of my buddies is good friends with Prince Charles. They used to spar together. He attended a ceremony a couple years ago when they renamed a street in Mansfield, Ohio after Williams.
I think he was a bit better than that. He gives all these guys a tough fight. I would slightly favor him over Lopez, Scott and Conteh in addition to Rossman. He only started getting going after his loss to Johnson.
Seemed to remember he blew hot and cold. Had some early losses, hit that great stride when he beat Bobby Czyk, then fell off. Also, didn't have the best chin, as Bobby lost, but wobbled him a few times. I think maybe Czyk was his limit.
He was only downed against Czyz and Toney (on film) so I feel like it's not just his chin. He was never down against Pops or Sosa, and Toney needed 12 rounds at SMW to put him down and out.
It took a masterful performance by the generations greatest boxer to defeat a prime Williams. That man was Maske.
I dont think as ibf champ Williams beats Andries or Moorer. Williams beats Harding,Leslie Stewart...Lalonde...
Of his contemporaries I think he’d beat Jeff Harding and Denis Andries. Not sure about Virgil hill or Michael Moorer. In his prime I think he’d beat Henry Maske. Charles was going downhill by the time they met in 1993. A Later more developed version of Williams would have a chance against Marvin Johnson. Johnson was a deadly puncher but his chin and defense were suspect. Prince was green when they fought. Victor Glanidez vs Charles Williams would be interesting
Before this thread goes to never neverland, just wanted to mention that peak versions of Matthew Saad Muhammad/Marvin Johnson would be my favorite fantasy opponents for Williams at light-heavy... Even if he lost to both. Edit: Ok probably McCallum at light-heavy, too.
