Carl "The Truth" Williams

yeah I agree. He had one of the best Jabs of that era and plenty of power in that right hand. He was also one of these guys who could get up off the canvas to win fights. As you say though, he had a glaring weakness for left hooks which neither he nor his people were ever able to fix. I watched a lot of his later fights on cable after his contender days were over. He was scheduled to fight Tyrell Biggs on the undercard of Witherspoon vs Sims in January of 1990, but pulled out due to an alleged back injury. He appeared later that summer against prospect Melton Bowen and looked halfway decent. Other fights I've seen him in were Marshall Tillman, Kimmuel Odom, Jerry Jones, and Tommy Morrison. He was inconsistent during this period. He showed up looking like hell for the Jones fight which he lost, but got back into shape and gave morrison fits.. At one point I really thought Truth was going to win that one.. Good contender and a decent guy. Just had some flaws that weren't fixable.

 

I remember him for the Tyson fight.

I think he was one of the few that openly dissed Tyson saying he didn't see anything special in Tyson and come fight night hed have his hands raised.

But what a left hook.

There is a video of Tyson and Truth sparring on youtube, Carl had some crazy speed.

 

The footage of Truth sparring with a young Tyson was shown in the pre-fight coverage back in '89. There wasn't enough revealed to draw any conclusions but Carl said that Mike jumped all over him and gave him a bloody nose the first day of sparring. The next day however, Williams came back to the gym with a different attitude and got the better of him. Of course Williams was already about 24 years old with perhaps 11 pro fights while Tyson was maybe 16 and still an amateur. Six years later made all the difference in the world.

 

there's many great sparring stories out there, maybe we should do a thread on it.

Tyson sparred Bruno, Mcall, Berbick, Holyfield and Lewis.

Holyfield sparred Bowe and Tua.

Holmes sparred Ruddock

Benn sparred Duran.

i sparred (and got the better of) Daniel Smith, a guy who nearly knocked David Haye out in the amateurs.

 

That's cool. I bet you have some good sparring stories too. I didn't have a boxing career but have taken lessons and still workout at a boxing gym. I am a small guy who sparred a 6'5", 300 oaf from Brazil and got battered for the better part of an afternoon. Anyway, I'd like to hear stories about Liston sparring with Foreman.

 

Williams would have been special if he could take a punch.

 

nah no other sparring stories from me unfortunately. Just that one spar was my claim to fame.
on the flip side i did very little sparring before my first amateur......one round! And no i didn't win.

i also sparred and got the better of Shaun Walton, who i believe is now pro and a journeyman with a not very attractive record.

i trained in a variety of styles, my brother and cousin were always much better though. My cousin fought Amir Khans brother a few years back on one of our home shows.

My brother trained with George Groves amongst others.

ive always been intrigued by the Tyson/Holyfield sparring session

i do want to get back into it and maybe give it another crack, i know im repeating the old cliche, but i feel in a much better fighter now than i was when i was in my prime about a decade ago!

 

If nothing else, go through the workouts and do some gym sparring. Boxing training is excellent for conditioning if done properly and you're eating right. I don't know if I'd recommend getting into actual matches after being gone for a decade and presumably being in your thirties now, but start with getting back into shape and see how it goes.

 

:tomb Too bad the Truth lost his biggest fight against Cancer...


Like the previous poster said Carl would have been an unstoppable force if only he had the ability to take a punch..

I loved his Brawl with Morrison in 92? a true knock em down drag em out fight, Morrison was just too young and brutally strong for him, great fight...

 

Good contender. Lovely rapier-like jab; one of the few (if only) guys I've ever seen who could outjab Larry, albeit a faded and shopworn Holmes. Still though, Williams really did have a fantastic jab.

Perhaps had he been matched against one of the more beatable WBA champs instead of Holmes, he would have won a belt. But although he had some good skills, I think ultimately he reached his level.
He had so-so power, a decent but incomplete arsenal of punches and was slightly chinny.
For me, he was always a bit of a 'tightrope' type fighter. In other words, a guy who could be upset if he was not careful.

 

It looked like Mike had way too much skill for this guy. Mike was right in front of him and made him miss consistently. Also Mike caught him with a right hook that rocked Carl. Perfect example of a fighter very subtitle taking the starch out of another guy. I've seen enough to know Mike owned this guy in the worst way..

 

He had great talent and this was shown against Holmes. Unfortunately like many others(especially in 80's) he didn't live up to his potential.

 

Show me Wlad jabbing better than Carl Williams cos ive never seen it. Isn't Wlad meant to have a great jab?
The Truth jabbed better than Wlad.

He also went from body to head very nicely. All in all , Truth was a better boxer than Wlad .

 

I attended a security convention at the Jacob Javits center in NYC back in the spring of 2003 both Carl and Gerry Cooney were in attendance sitting at a booth promoting a new start up company. I went over to both of them and made brief conversation. They both had still pictures of various fights that they were in, autographing them for fans. I noticed that the picture of Tyson landing the left hook, was by far his most requested picture by the scant few remaining on his table. I asked him, how'd he feel about that, and he said it was cool everyone knows Tyson. He then added, I really felt I could of taken him that night, but I never got a chance he caught me early. I told him I was fan and chose a different picture a head shot for him to sign and told him he an amazing jab. We shook hands and departed. Seemed like a real nice guy.
Just a little story.