Roy Tiger Williams

Never seen the fight but the result alone makes me wonder if Roy accepted it with a stipulation that he put the cuffs on.

 

Why? Dunn beat several men who were as good or better than Williams.

 

Who?

The only ono I can think of that he beat of any stature was Bunny Johnson, a domestic-level light heavyweight (and one I very much like but the Bunny was 180 pounds as a ‘heavyweight’ and more scrappy than anything).

Otherwise, I know Dunn lost to Ali and Bugner and Jose Uritain and a not-yet-established Jimmy Young. What am I missing?

 

Was Williams anything more than a domestic level fighter? He was a clubfighter at best. He never beat anyone unless you think winning over a very young Jimmy Young is a feather in his cap. I dont think Williams was any better than Bunny Johnson, Carl Gizzi, or Danny McAlinden. He was big, strong, and could punch but he was also slow, had bad stamina, wasnt busy and wasnt a particularly good boxer. The sport is littered with big scary looking guys who couldnt make it.

 

He was a very good fighter, who had the talent to be a heavyweight champion, but he was never fully dedicated to the sport. In his big fights with guys like Holmes and Shavers his lack of hunger let him down.

 

Yet Dunn was KO’d by a young Jimmy Young — Jimmy did nothing between the Williams fight and the Dunn fight to make anyone think he’d amount to anything.

Bunny (whom I like as a plucky light heavyweight) was a 175-pounder who wasn’t notable at heavyweight … just put on 5 or 10 pounds to pick up a payday with the big boys from time to time.

Gizzi? He was never anything of note and had lost 7 of his last 9 when Dunn beat him, lol. McAlindon was never, ever notable.

There’s a huge difference between being a domestic level heavy in the UK in the ‘’horizontal heavyweight era” of Dunn and being a “domestic level” 1970s American heavyweight whom top guys spoke of with respect and mostly went out of their way to sidestep. No top heavyweight ever talked of Dunn in those terms nor avoided him.

That’s why I think the result when Dunn beat Roy was eyebrow-raising.

 

You are acting like Williams was more accomplished than these men. He wasnt.

 

Williams was a physically gifted , under performing fighter. Dangerous but … the Holmes accounting was about what a motivated Williams was capable of but it was a motivation he lacked as a professional through out his career ..

 

Would have been a great test for someone like Weaver, Tate, or Coetzee.

 

For some fighters the inability to transcend the role of sparring partner seems to be a very real thing.

IIRC, while Larry won clearly his match vs Williams it wasn’t necessarily a walk in the park.

Williams had a fair jab which he employed against Holmes but for whatever reason he didn’t appear to use it as much against Shavers.

When he retired I believe Williams fronted a band as lead vocalist. Could he hold a better tune than Frazier or Holmes or is that a given?

I haven’t read of his passing so I assume Roy is still among us but I couldn’t say for sure.

 

I heard that he was awesome during rehearsals but underperformed on stage.

He's apparently alive and 81yo. I'd been thinking Holmes was one of the last of the 70's gang, tho admittedly he joined the fray late. Admittedly Roy was a small player but he was still well known. Chuvalo is 88yo and still kicking i believe. Wepner is still going at 87yo. There's more of the fringe guys still around than i realised.

 

Ha! Yep. Whenever it got real poor Roy performed no better than a back up vocalist.

Due to dementia Chuvalo has been in care for several years I believe but he will click over to 89 in Sep I think.

I hope George’s life is still of an acceptable quality.

Good to hear that Wepner is still around. One tough hombre and I shudder to think how much blood in total he shed during his career.