Paul Williams confirmed himself as one of the best middleweights in the world with a landslide points victory over veteran Winky Wright.
Former welterweight champion dominates veteran
Paul Williams confirmed himself as one of the best middleweights in the world with a landslide points victory over veteran Winky Wright in Las Vegas.
The former WBO welterweight champion has quickly moved through the divisions after avenging his only loss to date against Carlos Quintana last year, and has opened many doors with an impressive performance at the Mandalay Bay.
Wright, with victories over Fernando Vargas, Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad to his name, had been inactive for 21 months and was constantly beaten to the punch by an opponent younger by 10 years.
Williams threw over 1,000 punches - more than double the amount that the 37-year-old Wright managed to unleash - scoring with elaborate combinations that befuddled the former two-weight champion.
"I felt like I did in the first round in the 12th," Williams said. "That was because of my hard training, and running seven miles a day.
"It helped my breathing. I expected Winky to throw big shots, and he did. We went 12 hard rounds. I anticipated that it was going to be a tough fight. I would have loved to knock him out."
Southpaw Wright, who had been unable to negotiate big fights with Jermain Taylor or Kelly Pavlik, admitted that for once it was he who found his opponent too awkward in the ring.
"I just couldn't get my punches off," he said. "He was very tall and awkward with really long arms. He would throw a lot of punches, and they were coming from all different directions, and I didn't know how to dodge them. I had a long layoff, but I felt this was a great fight."
The three judges were unequivocal in their belief that Williams, who moves to 37-1 with 27 kos, was the better man, scoring it 120-108 and 119-109 twice.
On the undercard, Chris Arreola saw his stock rise with a fourth round stoppage victory over former heavyweight title contender Jameel McCline.
'The Nightmare', who was recently courted by Wladimir Klitschko's management, improved his record to 27-0 with a convincing victory over his first 'name' opponent.
McCline has lost all four world title fights he has contested but has never been stopped so early, crumpling to the canvas following two big left hands midway through the fourth.
