Williams' a Coming Attraction

Boxers Who Will Become Attractions In 2009
By Tim Starks - queensberry-rules.com

7. Paul Williams, 27, junior middleweight (154 lbs.)

Upside: Williams is another young, black American who appears to just keep getting better and better and who has heart for days, plus he's as unique a physical specimen as you'll see in the sport, with crazy-long arms and a build that allows him to fight in multiple weight classes... where he wants to fight everyone. Unlike Dawson, though, Williams has a granite chin -- his adversity has come in the form of cuts (like the one he ignored against Verno Phillips), having to bounce back from a loss (Carlos Quintana ouboxed him then Williams knocked him out in the 1st round of the rematch) and a staggering courtesy Margarito (who staggers everyone at minimum, and whom Williams fought off down the stretch even though he was hurt). He's either swamping people with activity or, increasingly these days, knocking them out, so one way or the other, he brings the action.

Downside: I honestly can't figure out why he's not more popular than he is, and I really want to understand. But he isn't all that popular yet, and until he gets that way, his risk/reward ratio is way too high for most boxers. His likely next opponent, Winky Wright, is dangerous, because he could give Williams a momentum-killing loss a la Hopkins-Pavlik.