Paul "The Punisher" Williams retrospective, a decade after career-ending accident

True but they were also both southpaws as well as being larger, and in Maravilla's case there is that equalizer of massive power that Mayweather (and Lara) didn't have.

 

How weird would Williams vs. Pacquiao have looked, visually? Williams was variously reported as 6'2" (even taller on rare occasion) or, at minimum 6'1" and Pac is officially 5′5½″ but may in fact be an even five-five. Pac vs. Margarito was a plenty bizarre sight already, but this would be adding two if not three more inches' differential (going by the how Margarito and Williams appeared in their own contest, I'd err on the side of saying a full three).

 

Another southpaw.

 

It's a fun one to ponder exactly because they each pose unique questions and problems for the other. Floyd would be the slickest and most efficient opponent Paul ever fought, but unlike the other slick guys that gave him trouble, not a southpaw, and quite a bit smaller. Paul meanwhile is going to be the longest and tallest opponent Floyd had ever seen, combined with perhaps the highest combination of work rate and the stamina to keep that work rate up for a full twelve. Closest to him size wise that PBF ever faced among elites were I guess Corrales or JLC (most precise match would be Tony Pep, but of course he wasn't as busy, accurate, fast, powerful, or tough as PTP) but neither of them is a real stylistic proxy for Williams.

 

Perhaps even more frustrating than not getting his chance to snatch Canelo's zero is the fact that a few years earlier, Williams had been scheduled to face Kelly Pavlik in a very compelling match-up that wound up never coming to fruition.

I think it was because of The Ghost sustaining a finger injury or something?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boxing-middleweights-idUSTRE58S6XS20090930

That would've been a blast.

 

I think both have become underestimated in the long run. They also both had some able (if not quite prime) years left in them, pilfered by traffic snafus and John Barleycorn respectively.

 

Margarito was smaller and more basic than Williams; Cotto was much smaller, and more fragile. Neither could match Pac's work rate like PTP could.