Does anyone else think this guy was one of the most underrated and unlucky heavies? I've just watched him against Larry Holmes and I had him winning the fight. Things could have been much different if that fight had gone his way. Very talented and he seemed to out Larry Holmes Larry Holmes. great jab and all round skills if maybe a touch chinny. just thought I'd share my thoughts
Williams had excellent skills, but just not quite good enough to beat the best. I give him props for his work though. He was on the receiving end of some bad calls.
He was always looking to uppercut his opponent, look at he Tyson fight this is why would drop his his right and be open to a left hook. Trying to uppercut a prime Tyson in the first round was suicide. But a good fighter none the less who did have a couple of unlucky breaks he was KOD by morrison but could have so easily KOD him.
His problem was defense, He dropped both hands whenever he punched and brought that jab back low. The Holmes reflexes at that time couldn't really capitalize much on those openings but other guys sure could. But this wasn't a 79 Larry Holmes in there, but the 85 version. After seeing Williams get tagged by that Weaver lefthook, there sure wasn't anyone out there thinking he was going to cope with the speed of the Tyson lefthook. After that bout, Williams seemed to pull out of more fights than he fought.
Some experts give him credit as having one of the very best heavyweight left jabs of all time. He had a fairly serviceabe right that he could knock some fighters out with too. Truth also showed heart at times and rose off the canvas on a few occasions to win some fights. He had three problems though. 1. He was overly susceptible to getting decked and Ko'd with the left hook - A problem that niether he nor his trainers ever remedied. 2. He had the tendency to go on long periods of inactivity following a loss, when in fact he should have tried to rebound and keep his career momentum going. 3. He began fighting in the amateurs at a later age during a time when most men were already beginning their pro careers. That said, Williams was a respectable contender with underrated skills, but at the same time, I'm forced to place him the category of guys who " coulda', shoulda', woulda', ". As much as I like Carl, he was never able to capitalize on what he had......
Very good hands, size, some power...loved to watch him, exciting fighter, a young Ali - like guy but bigger even vulnerable to the hook but did not have the CHIN....which made him exciting
I think he's one of the more talented fighters of the 80's... but as others said, his durability was a big problem. He was a bit like a weaker version of Wladimir Klitschko, with a lesser trainer and similarly lesser training habits. Not that he would've had anything of a chance, i thought he should've been given a chance to continue during his fight against Tyson. Incidentally, that is one of the best and most awesome looking examples of slipping the jab and landing a hard left hook. He also managed to sneak a headbutt in there.
Does this make Tucker a failed suicide? Anyway, Carl Williams I admire because he did well considering his huge weakness (a terrible chin) and while he had a colourful life out of the ring, you could rely on him to come into the ring in good shape. Compared to the likes of Tubbs and Witherspoon, who had fewer weaknesses but squandered everything at the dinner table, I consider Williams an admirable boxer. I remember Williams-Bruno, where everyone expected a slugfest ending in a big KO, and Bruno ended up winning it via his boxing skills.
Williams did have the tools to be a truly formidable fighter. But as mentioned his chin was fragile, particularly early on. Also, he could whine and ***** for America, seemingly every defeat was either the judges or the referee's fault. I think Williams sometimes needed to look into the mirror after a defeat, to find the real reason.
He beat Holmes - there was no question about it except in the minds' of the judges. He was so close to beating Tommy Morrison. He was a very skilled guy, who just had a few weaknesses that did him in. He was tall, rangy, had a great left hand, and moved well. He'd beat a lot of guys today. He was similar to Buster Douglas, but Douglas had more power.
Talented fighter, though I remember him best for nearly KO'ing Mike Weaver before Weaver demolished him with that one left hook.