Vitali Says So Long To Williams!
Heavyweight Champ Retains WBC & RING Belts!

 

Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling........
.....and I am dead, as dead I well may be,
You'll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an  AVE  there for me.

AVE: Pronunciation: 'ä-(")vA : an expression of greeting or of leave-taking : FAREWELL

 

I think quite a few of us might want to bid him farewell after his less than impressive performance last night. After being dubbed the "Tyson-Killer", Danny Williams went from virtual unknown to Heavyweight title contender, literally overnight! I think it is now pretty clear why Williams was an unknown commodity, and it will surprise no one if he returns to whatever rock it was that he climbed out from under.

In all fairness, let me say that Williams showed a lot of heart and desire while The WBC Champ Vitali Klitschko pummeled the seemingly overmatched challenger into a lump of English pudding.
 

And speaking of pudding, I was going over some of my notes and tapes that I got from the press conference to announce this battle, and when asked about his weight for this fight, Williams said that he weighed about 258 lbs. when he beat Tyson and he wanted to come in under that weight for his bout with Vitali, 255 lbs. was his goal! He wanted to be lighter so he could move and box his giant adversary. Oooops! Danny tipped

the scales at 270 just 2 days before this fight and I would venture to say by fight time 275 was not a far stretch. Needless to say, there was little movement from the overweight fighter, and I have a hard time calling what he did in the ring on Saturday night, boxing!
 

The next thing I found while doing my homework was Danny questioning why guys want to fight Klitschko from the outside. Williams says, "I will have to use a lot of movement against Klitschko to get inside of his long reach. Everybody practices to fight him from the outside and I just can't understand it!"
 

I'll tell you what I don't understand, is why a guy would stay right at the end of Vitali's reach, allowing him to get all his power and weight behind every blow that lands! And landing they were, sending Williams down 4 times in 8 rounds, starting with the first knockdown that came just midway through the first round. It was basically target practice for Vitali from that point on, and with but a few punches landing by the 3 to1 underdog, it was nothing more than a glorified sparring match for the Champion.

 

But unlike Lennox Lewis, who had nothing good to say about Klitschko after he punked his fellow countryman down, let me say that I was impressed if not somewhat surprised with Vitali's overall performance. I think everyone is going to remember his offensive attack when this fight is broken down at the water coolers this week, but it was his defense that stood out in my mind. With his left hand held dangerously low, Vitali dared Williams to try to land punches, and when Danny did fall for the trap, Klitschko ducked, moved, slipped and countered in a style I have never seen from the 6' 8" fighter, who was never given too much credit for his skills as a pugilist.
 

Personally, I think we all got carried away with the British fighter who defeated a one legged Tyson earlier this year! Did you see the way he was hopping around the ring when Klitschko was landing blows? It wasn't pretty! Somewhat reminiscent of Zab Judah after getting tagged by Kostya Tszyu, but with a little hopscotch mixed in. Williams didn't really belong in the ring with Klitschko, but there he was anyways, and although it will not go down as one of the classics, it was entertaining, all 520 pounds of it!
 

On a side note, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly a crowds loyalty can turn. Apparently the majority of the house dropped money on the 3 to 1 underdog Williams. He entered the ring to a rousing applause, yet when Klitschko was announced the Boo Birds were out in full force. But by the end of round 7 all that could be heard was the chant, Klitschko, Klitschko, Klitschko!
 

Those same fans who laid money on the underdog couldn't jump onto the bandwagon fast enough! Let's see if they will stay on it in 2005!

 

The Champ Klitschko, who was successful in his first title defense takes his record up to 35-2, 34 KO's while Danny Williams falls to 32-4, 27 KO's.