Cleveland Williams rated 10th when he fought Liston in 1960

In 1960 Roy Harris was ko'd in 1 rd by Sonny Liston and outpointed by Henry Cooper.
1960.Joe Erskine had only one fight with a no hoper, but the previous November he had been knocked senseless by Henry Cooper in 12 rds and would be stopped by him in 5rds March 1961.
1960.Billy Hunter was stopped by Eddie Machen in 9rds and Mike DeJohn,also in 9 rds .
I would pick Williams to beat these three and Cooper as well
Though Jim Wicks would not have let Cooper in the same gym
as Williams let alone the same ring.

I would also give Williams a very good chance of koing Zora Folley.

 

Williams had just lost twice on early stoppage to Liston and lost to Jones and a fading l/heavy in Satterfield. His best win...**** Richardson?
Cooper and Erskine had also defeated Richardson but Erskine had better wins than that as he had defeated Cooper and Pastrano. Henry had also better wins, over Folley and Brian London.
Harris had yet to burst and had wins over Pastrano, Baker, Powell and Lavourante with only the defeat to Patterson in the twelfth round of a title on his ledger, while Hunter was off wins over Baker and Miteff. Hunter is slightly shaky as a pick, but

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the rest merited their ranking over Williams.

 

Cooper was kod by Folley in 2 rds Folley never carried Williams power.
Erskine was twice emphatically stopped by Cooper, ditto the power comparison.
Harris was one of the most moderate contenders ever Liston erased him inside a round, Williams could duplicate that without breaking sweat.
Hunter was only a fleeting contender and isn't really worth discussing.
London wouldn't go the distance with Williams, as he didnt with Patterson.
I pick Williams to beat them all by stoppage , that s my stance and I'm very happy with it.

ps You never answered my question ,would you pick them to beat Williams?:think

 

Probably none of them now but that's not the point. I'm projecting back to the time of the ratings in 1960 and trying to explain/understand why these guys were above Williams. It actually seems pretty reasonable except for Hunter. They didn't know then what we know now about Liston, Patterson, Erskine, Cooper et al and speculation is not part of ratings.

 

Thanks for replying .
This might be of interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBbMxO3bHrA

ps Have you heard of an Irish heavyweight White Hope called Con O Kelly from Cork?

 

Nice compilation.
(Just not a fan of what-ifs?)!
Yeah, giving Con a chapter to himself-loads of good Cork heavyweights, Mahony, O'Kelly, O'Sullivan, Mulcahy, Doyle, Howell. I think you are a honoury Corkman, no?

 

O' Kelly is an interesting man 1908 Olympic Wrestling Gold Medallist, his son Con jnr represented the Uk as a heavyweight boxer at the 1924 Olympics Graeme Kent says he was a policeman in Hull [PC249], another source has him as a fireman.I look forward to the end product!:good

Yes my partner's family are O' Regans.

 

He was a fireman in the police dept-had me puzzled too for a while.
A Ned O'Regan was the trainer of Pakey Mahony, quite well known trainer at the time, an ex-British army man.

 

Mystery solved then:good