Danny Williams¿ Prizefighter bid, and possibly his boxing career, came to a crushing end after he suffered a shock defeat against Sheffield's Carl Baker at the ExCel Arena.
British champion floored twice in first fight defeat in Prizefighter
Danny Williams' Prizefighter bid, and possibly his boxing career, came to a crushing end after he suffered a shock defeat against Sheffield's Carl Baker at the ExCel Arena.
Williams hit the canvas twice in the opening round of his first fight and, although he launched a creditable fight back in the third and final round he could not get the knockout he needed to save himself.
British champion Williams was heavily fancied to go all the way to the final in Prizefighter III, but he suffered a massive reverse against the man known as 'The Fridge'.
Williams was desperate to get revenge on Audley Harrison for his punishing defeat in their last fight, but he could not even get beyond the quarter-finals as Prizefighter threw up yet another shock result.
Baker, the heaviest man in the tournament weighing in at over 20 stones, floored Williams after just 20 seconds of their contest as the British champion came out swinging but got caught with a big right hand to the top of the head.
Down again
A second knockdown came with 90 seconds left of the first round as Baker pummelled Williams with a couple of combinations that forced Williams to the floor.
After recovering in the second round, Williams launched a desperate attack in the third round, and rocked Baker with a couple of right hands that forced the Sheffield man to hang on for his life.
Despite blowing hard and struggling, Baker clung on until the final bell to seal the biggest victory of his career and stun Williams.
"I was glad to hear that bell and get the fight over and done with," Baker told
Sky Sports after his fight.
"I knew after I put him down twice in the first round that I'd won, I knew he'd want to get into a war after that and there was no point getting into a war with him and getting hurt.
Not hurt
"I did get caught a few times but no matter what it looked like it didn't hurt and I kept my balance and stayed on my feet and hit back at him at the end to win it.
"I've just beaten the British champion, I've beaten the guy that ended Tyson's career. Nobody gave me a chance to do it, the odds were stupid against me and I've just made a lot of my friends a lot of money."
Baker did not make the Prizefighter final lost his next fight to Irishman Coleman Barrett, but he will hope to build on his victory over Williams - who had said he would retire if he did not win the tournament.
