This content is protected Co-feature to MAB vs. Paul Lloyd, which to say the least didn't end up nearly as competitive. If anybody hasn't seen that, here, dedicate a scant few moments for the main event: This content is protected Big yikes. Not as though "Livewire" had been some bit of rubbish, either (he beat Lorenzo Aragón twice in the amateurs). To bludgeon him out in a round takes a beastly entity, which homing-in-on-prime MAB certainly was... Anyway, regarding that warm-up act - the domestic heavyweight donnybrook... It was Francis' third defense of the Commonwealth and second of the BBBofC heavyweight title - which means the Lonsdale belt outright stood on the line for him. Odd to hear Williams, from the perspective of this many years gone by (and with five more losses than had Francis himself upon retirement, with a sub-.500 ending tally of 23-24-1...) referred to as "Britain's most glittering young undefeated prospect" - but that indeed he was, and correct also was the observation that he was biting off quite a mouthful in his first big fight. Round 1 JF 10-9 JF Round 2 JF close 20-18 JF Round 3 DW close, 29-28 JF Round 4 JF, slightest edge, 39-37 JF Round 5 DW, starting to connect with powerful shots metered out in disciplined fashion, 48-47 JF Round 6 DW, dominant, 57-57 Round 7 JF, close but clear, finally keyed into the fact that he needs to keep Williams turning and preoccupied with a high volume of long jabs and body shots; Williams came on late aggressive but mostly lunging and missing, worst Francis was hurt was from a headbutt, 67-66 JF Round 8 DW, thumping combos, primarily torquing hooks alternating hands, sustained for almost two minutes, Francis in a bother throughout, 76-76 Round 9 JF, throwing and landing more and higher %, showing greater reserves of stamina, 86-85 JF Round 10 JF, still menace in Williams' right hand but he's doing too much following and hesitating, 96-94 JF Round 11 JF, higher work rate is all, nor is the one punch KO a concern as Williams has begun slapping with heavy arm punches with more drag than lift,106-103 JF Round 12 JF, very tight, slug-fest early, flurries by Francis vs. solo bombs from Williams down the stretch, 116-112 JF. Odd scorecard from referee Larry O'Connell, reaching 118-114; that means he needed to have scored four separate rounds 10-10. Bit excessively indecisive that, innit. Glenn McCrory showed a bit more restraint and had it 116-113 to Francis, scoring just the fourth even. Francis, already 34, would soon plummet downhill with all the grace of Jack & Jill after peaking here. Successfully defending the Lonsdale belt once and the Commonwealth a fourth time against Scott Welch two months later, he would then go 2-17-1 in his next (and final) twenty bouts. This included losses to Scott Gammer & Mike Tyson, both of whom in turn lost to Williams - as well as to Sinan Samil Sam and Oleg Maskaev, both of whom defeated Williams ...and Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton, both of whom split their series against Williams. As for the no longer undefeated prospect, his short term fortunes would improve. He would come again for this pair of belts eighteen months later, capturing them and making successful defenses against Kali Meehan, Francis in a rematch by KO, and Michael Sprott x2. He would lose them both to Sprott in a third fight in 2004, but no matter - that same year ushered in his star-making victory, over a faded Kid Dynamite. That earned him a world title crack at Vitali Klitschko - which is fair enough - but that experience (being shut out and dribbled off the canvas several times and then stopped) probably eradicated the vestiges of his prime and ruined him forevermore. He would still eke out some wins, and not all over bottom-feeders necessarily (but most were) - but after Dr. Ironfist he would go 21-24, stopped over a dozen more times. Francis boxed into his early forties and yes, had two dozen losses - but he was only stopped in eight of them, and will likely still have most of his mental faculties in his pensioner years. Williams, on the other hand, is 46, and still active...kayoed twice in 2019.
Williams had all the talent, far more than Francis, but was more of a gym fighter. The bright lights and anxiety crushed him
