As it says. Let's say Danny Williams was around in the same era as Cooper, London, Erskine etc. He and Henry meet over the course of four years, fighting 5 times. What's the final score?
Best version versus best version? 5-0, Williams. Only man you'd bet on to beat the best Williams with any degree of certainty was Williams himself....
I'd take the best version of Lennox Lewis, amongst many others, to beat any version of Danny Williams.
I always thought of Williams as an enigma. He displayed incredible attributes although, frustratingly, not at the same time. And he could in turns be mentally frail and incredibly tough. On his best night when his movement, his accuracy, his power and his heart all came together, he would have been a hard nights work for anyone. Sadly, I can't recall ever seeing all the attributes in one night... I'm reminded of, I'm sure it was Frank Warren who made a point about Herbie Hide who he said could be beaten by a guy who pushed in front of him in the queue at the post office three weeks ago because it would suddenly pop up in his head and he couldn't let it go! You make a fair point though, he never operated at the highest level but I guess my clumsy point was that he could have if only he could have brought it all together....
Weight would be the deciding factor. Peak Williams was more than four stone heavier than Cooper, but the 'Ammer would come into play at least once.
I agree his form was sporadic and should have achieved more with his talent, but even if he'd have fulfilled his talent he'd have never been a top 5 HW in the world.
4-1 williams. i was expecting that to be the unpopular pick when i read the title. that's true but neither would cooper in that era.
I like Danny Williams. He gave a lot to British boxing over the years. However he was gloriously inconsistent... He'd blow fights you had him locked in to win. And won some you wrote him off in. As others have said, he had a lot of the qualities needed to be a good HW - but they rarely came together in the same performance. I don't think Williams, if he had found a high level of consistency, would necessarily be a world champion or anything like that. But he would have achieved more than European \ fringe world level
Williams split fights with Julius Francis, Audley Harrison, Matt Skelton. Yes he's heavier than Cooper but I generally don't think his level is any higher than Cooper's TBH. Williams best win is vs a totally shot Tyson who blew his knee out. Cooper beat Zora Folley, Brian London, Karl Mildenberger, and most felt he beat Joe Bugner. Cooper would definitely win his fair share of fights.
