Jus watched some action with this guy and was impressed by him. i don't hear alot about him anymore...Was he destined to share the fates of quarry and Lyle, close but not quite?? did he have the misfortune of being born in the wrong era???? Where do you rank him...top 50??? hopefully top 100 at the worst?? Ring magizine rates him in the top 100 punchers of all time (liston said he punched harder than anyone he faced?), but rarely is his name mentioned here in those discussions? How would he have fared in other eras....with the exception of the modern one I have been informed several times that no one can beat the Klits, so avoid that one!
He fought after he had bullets lodged inside him from a run in with a police offer, I believe. Career obviously slid after that point. Ended up dying from being hit by a car.
yeah but that was like 66 maybe 65, and he fought Ali (considered on of Ali's finest) after all that damage. but he was a beast prior to that...2 loses to Liston sidetracked by a draw w/ machen and then a loss (SD I believe?) to terrell whom he had previosly beaten..the man was good in his time
He looked good against Liston ,imo and undoubtedly could hit like hell but he didnt have a real career defining win,by the time he got a shot at Ali he was on the slide,and had a 357 magnum slug lodged in his abdominal wall courtesy of a highway patrolman .
Cleve was something a bit special, He fought and beat men like Bethea, Sonny Banks, Alex Minteff, Terrell by KO.. Billy Daniels.. Leroy Cauldwell and more, and had the kind of physical attributesthat would look impressive even in todays heavyweight standards.. He hit like a truck and yet was a very humble god fearing man outside the ring.. Sad day when he passed , he survived shootings etc and yet was knocked over a few years ago, not heavily but he did not get over the incident , he was quite frail following the car incident.. You need to check out his fights though if you never saw him, he was terriffic.. God bless..
The Big Cat was someone all Houston was proud of. If he had been based out of New York, he might be better known now. He fought Sonny Liston on even terms..maybe they thru him in with Sonny a little too early. Liston always had good things to say about Cleve. On his best night he would have taken Patterson, IMO.
Since you brought Williams up, thought you might get a kick out of this little story about him and Willie Pep. In the waning days of Pep's career, he took the bouts for walkin around money. All he had left was a twinkle in his eye and a wisecrack. Most boxers looked bigger in trunks; he looked smaller. He was training at the 5th Street Gym in Miami. "Big Cat" was there as well. But, though faded, Pep was the star with gym rats, which grated on Williams, who was always sullen, while Willie kibitzed and clowned. Williams was the closest thing to Superman Id ever seen -- a walking anatomy chart at his peak, before he got shot in the stomach. His left-hook cannonades on the heavy bag shook the gym. Fifth Street was compact -- always jammed, so Pep and Williams had to do floor exercises almost side by side. Peps fans constantly stoked him: " Willie, you could kill that big bum! He'd never touch you." "You'd make him look like a jerk, Willie. It went on like that for weeks. No way Williams didn't hear it.... He was nine feet tall proud, a killing puncher, and bristling. While Pep joked, Williams seethed. You couldve cut the tension with a knife. One day when Peps faithful were egging him on: "You could kick his ass, Willie" "You'd make him look like fool, Willie!" Pep turned to them: "All I can tell you is: I'd hate to have him hang his hammer on me!" Williams exploded with laughter.
I concur Mr. Garfield & Russell. Good to see when fighters have respect for each other. And now they are both gone,,,the Big Cat and the Will o' the Wisp.
He looks impressive on film, but his career lacks substance. He only scored one win over an elite opponent in nearly 100 pro fights. I don't think he can really be classified with guys like Quarry and Lyle, for that reason- he looked to have skill and potential, but he didn't really deliver in the big fights. There are dozens of contenders with superior resumes to Williams'. I don't think he's top 50.
