Cleveland Williams Left Hook

He would dig in and wing that hook...his right hand down by his hip, and his chin hanging out there like a lantern in the darkness.

 

But, but Floyd Patterson was petrified of this war lord who beat a green Terrell.

 

He and Floyd would be a fun fight, because Floyd liked to wing his hook and wasn't as careful as he should have been about where he left his right hand. Cus did his best to be as careful as possible about how he matched Floyd. It wouldn't suprise me at all if Williams splattered him, and it wouldn't suprise me at all if Patterson splattered Williams.

 

Very pausible. But It'd be funny to watch Williams fall into a heap against an actual elite fighter in Patterson. His reputation is 8ft and 6ft wide across the shoulders here but his resume is not even shallow enough to drown a hamster.

 

One of the top left hooks at heavyweight! Excellent video.

 

Good Lord, I forget how sloppy he was.

 

Patterson is my third favorite fighter (after Liston and Frazier) and very underrated imo but I don't think this one ends well for him tbh. Williams was much more powerful, and more durable than Patterson. I think he lands the big punch first, and continues to KD a brave Patterson until the referee steps in.

 

We've already been through this. If his resume was half as thin as you make it out to be, he wouldn't have reached #2 contender. He has more top ten wins than Lyle, and Shavers, who are both considered two of the better contenders.

Edit: If Howard Smith was ranked as I think he was, then Shavers and Williams are tied at 3 a piece.

 

Oh, he beat??? Drew with Machen, beat Terrell and???

 

Excluding men he decisioned and drew with

Alex Miteff (ranked) drew with Chuvalo, then later lost a disputed SD to him in Chuvalo's home state, knocked down Henry Cooper before losing a close fight, defeated Nino Valdez, Willie Besmanoff, Wayne Bethea, Alonzo Johnson 2X, etc and would later put on an excellent performance against Ali, and even hurt him before being stopped in a close fight.

Roger Rischer (ranked) held wins over Charlie Powell 2X (both dominations), Henry Cooper, Young Jack Johnson, etc.

John Holman was ranked #4 just the previous year and involved in the tournament for Marciano's title, and had arguably one of the best KO victims list of anyone who never won the title; Ezzard Charles, Elmer Ray, Cesar Brion, Boardwalk Billy Smith, Bob Satterfield, Willie Bean, Larry Watson, Julio Mederos.

Young Jack Johnson, though inconsistent, held wins over Folley, Charles, Besmanoff, Bean, among others

Alonzo Johnson was also ranked (though not at that point I believe), regarded as a good and very durable fighter, never having been stopped or even dropped, and held wins over Valdez, Pastrano, Hunter, among others and was also coming off an excellent performance against Ali just months earlier. Here's how he fared against Williams.

• "Cleveland (Big Cat) Williams, who did to Alonzo Johnson what 29 other opponents couldn't do, said today he wants to fight 2nd ranked heavyweight Eddie Machen next. Johnson, 195, stepped into the ring last night without having been knocked out in his previous 29 fights. Williams, 210, took just two minutes and twenty six seconds to wipe that away. Johnson never landed a blow. Williams put him away with a flashing left hook." -United Press International

Not exactly a murderer's row of KO victims, but if it was half as bad as you made it out to be, he wouldn't have sniffed the top 10.

 

So, his best win is still Ernie Terell? Who was 24-3? Riveting. You are squinting for a semblance of a good resume with this lot. Look at when he beat some of those guys...

 

No. It's in my blood as a patriot.