http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=5705980 He hasn't scored a single, convincing, signature win over anyone worth mentioning. Hasn't knocked out an elite opponent. His accuracy is appalling. He's been gifted a decision against Martinez and he got lucky that he was given a decision against Cintron. Why the hell would anybody have him as the third best fighter in the world after Manny and Floyd? Seriously, WTF? Can anyone seriously say he's better and more proven than Bradley, JM Marquez, Juanman, Montiel, Darchinyan? Bull****. Guy's a complete fraud.
Why do people get worked up over P4P ranks, biggest load of wank. Either way, he did well against Martinez, whether you gave it to him or not, it was a close fight. Plus he beat Margo at WW and a few other decent victories.
When I first saw Paul Williams, I thought he'd be 'all that' as our American cousins say. He hasn't been though, has he?
He is definitely not 3rd p4p in the world. His only real legitimately top class win was against Margorito. I had martinez winning by 2 but both fighters deservedly get respect for the fight they put on that night. However, williams really should get a great deal criticism also for his performance because he didn't use any of his physical advantages, it was a naive performance. i also think cintron had the measure of him and would have beat outpointed him if it had finished like it should
Loads of people got stupid after the Margarito fight IMO. Talking like he's the second coming of Tommy Hearns. Far from it!!!!!
My thoughts exactly. He's been a massive disappointment. The guy has very little intelligence in the ring, and fails miserably to effectively utilize his size and reach advantage. He's got a massive chance to prove people wrong in the Martinez fight though.
Paul Williams is a fraud? Paul Williams is one hell of a fighter, that's why none of the welterweight division wanted any part of him. This guy is one of the most entertaining fighters to watch with his high output style. Beaten Wright, Margarito, Quintana, Martinez, beaten everyone he's faced. He's flawed, but he's the real deal and will fight anyone. A fraud is someone who makes promises they have no intention of keeping e.g. David "The heavyweight division is full of bums. I will breath new life into the division and knock out both the brothers" Haye. The same guy you've defended so many times. See if I called Haye a fraud you'd be getting mad at me, probably calling me immature, but you wanna call Williams a fraud, a guy who doesn't know what drama means. What you see is what you get with Williams. You can call him a flawed fighter, a dumbass fighter, an over-rated fighter, but one thing he's not is a fraud. If there's one fighter who doesn't do drama, who doesn't **** around, P-dub is that fighter. 147, 154, 160 he don't give a ****, he'll move up and down depending on who has the balls to get in the ring with him. Number 3 in the world? I don't know about that, but he's a good fighter and has some good wins, despite his technical flaws.
and from the names you mentioned, Bradley is the most over-rated. I think Bradley is the best 140lb fighter in the world, but who has he fought that's so much better than Williams opponents? Witter? Campbell? Why should he be ranked higher than Williams? Lopez is even less proven.
P4P ranking are a bit of a laugh.. Boxrec had Bernard Hopkins no.3 p4p to just recently. He is now 4th behind Wlad.
I personally like Paul Williams, in this age of guys ducking everyone they can in their own division he's been hopping up and down and willing to take on anyone he could get between welterweight and middleweight. The guys got heart. He's also usually pretty entertaining in the ring, the current generation of American fighters are so safety and defence minded their fights suck to watch, Williams is one of few exceptions. But it's obvious the guy is not the special talent he was drummed up as being. He's good, but not great. He's not all that fast. He's not really a big puncher. Considering how tall he is he doesn't fight very smart. Basically he's tall and busy, a combination of which allows him to hit guys alot and win fights through activity. That was all he had on Martinez in their fight, volume.
I dont defend Haye for not fulfilling his promises. Thats on him. I still enjoy watching him. Im not going to call you immature. Youre a good poster. I call some naïve because they seem to think boxers are samurai warriors death before dishonour types. Youre not naïve and Haye has nothing to do with this discussion. If he was considered the third-best fighter in the world Id be ripping that to shreds too. Williams wasnt complaining like a baby all the way between welter and middleweight? God, I must have been watching a different Paul Williams. All he did was complain about how no one would fight him which was mostly because hes another guy with no fan base. Then he went out of his way to avoid Martinez until HBO basically demanded the rematch. What do you get with him? A close win over Margarito, bull**** wins over Martinez and Cintron, and a clear loss to the decidedly average Quintana. What a hero. My point is he hasnt proved ****. He throws thousands of punches that dont land. His best wins are seriously debateable. So, Ill qualify: I think hes a fraud. I dont dispute his attitude as things go. But this idea of him as some sort of elite is laughable. Hes a mirage. Hes a fraud.
Bradley has clear wins over two reigning titlists (Witter and Holt), a strong contender in Peterson, a decent win against Cherry - and he was kicking Campbell's ass before the old man quit. That to me is more proven and more impressive than comparative wins for Williams. JuanMa has beaten better guys like Penalosa, Ponce de Leon, and Luevano. All clear, emphatic wins.
Personally, Marquez & Martinez>Williams atm. If the guy learned how to use his height and reach he would probably beat everyone. He doesn't know how to fight tall. He is a good fighter but not P4P #3 imo.
dftaylor, I'm just saying that if you're gonna call someone like Paul Williams a fraud then what word would you use to describe someone like Haye? You would need to come up with a new word that's tn times worse than fraud because if there is anyone who is a fighter first, salesman later, it's Paul Williams That's why I brought up Haye who is the total opposite. So you don't think Williams is that good, fair enough but I don't agree with him being a fraud. Over-rated would be fair enough if that's what you think, but fraud is totally unreasonable I think. When Williams was saying they all dodged him, it's true. Floyd didn't want none, Shane didn't want none, no one did. You say he doesn't have a big fanbase. Exactly! That's why they didn't want none of Paul Williams cuz they knew he's high risk low reward. He's not a name so they avoided him. He's only speaking the truth. Pacquiao is my number 1 fighter, always will be, but even Pac should've faced him. Forget about Clottey and Margarito, Pac should've faced Williams. I'm not blaming Pac, because Pac will face anyone, he's not scared of no one but I don't think Roach or Arum would let Pac get in the ring with Williams. He's offered to even move down to 147 to face those guys. What kind of fraud moves up and down weight divisions taking on all comers? I think you're not giving him enough credit for his wins. Any resume can be ripped to shreds. You say a "close win" over Margarito, but I can say it was a very good win over at the time "the most avoided man in boxing". You say "bull**** win" over Martinez, and I can say it was a close fight, and he got the win over a guy that beat Pavlik. Plus he has a win over Winky Wright, and he got his revenge against Quintana didn't he? Bradley's win against Witter was good but what was so impressive about it? It's not like Witter (reigning titalist or not) is a better win than Margarito or Winky Wright. Witter sucked that night, he was totally shite. Peterson was just a "strong contender", exactly. Nothing more. You could say Penalosa had already lost like 5 times? and was well past his best when Lopez beat him. A guy not only past his best, but even at his peak wasn't THAT good. Ponce De Leon is not a great scalp either, just a good one. Neither wins come close to Margarito, which may have been competitive, but not a controversial fight. I really don't think these guys are anymore proven than Williams. Yes Williams misses loads of punches but that hardly matters when ranking a fighter. It's just one of his flaws. Amir Khan will always have crappy punch resistance but if he cleans up his division you can't let that flaw affect your rankings, it's not relevant. He may miss loads of punches but he still lands a lot because of the sheer amount he throws. His flaws haven't stopped him from winning, and whatever you think of his style, you can't let that affect rankings. Not number 3, but higher than Lopez and Bradley. Just my opinion.