Williams Pounds Phillips For 8 Rounds, Into Submission

Mark Vester from boxingscene.com

"At the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California - Paul Williams (36-1, 27 KOs) stopped veteran Verno Phillips (42-11-1, 21 KOs) after eight rounds to capture the WBO interim-junior middleweight title.

The first round was slow, with both feeling each other out. There was a clash of heads that opened up a cut above the right eye of Williams. Phillips had a good second round, countering Williams often with an overhand right. They would trade punches at the end as Williams pressed forward. Williams came out strong in the third, punishing Phillips to the body and following up with punches to the head.

Williams went after the body in the fourth, making Phillips pay when backed into the ropes. The fifth was more of Phillips being banged to his body by Williams. Williams dished out a beating to Phillips' body in the sixth. Phillips tried to open up in the final minute of the seventh, but was countered and then beaten up some more by Williams, who continued to go after the body.

During the eight, Williams continued to put the hurt on Phillips and had his way for the entire three minutes. At the end of the eight, the ringside doctor stopped the fight after checking on Phillips in the corner and making a determination that Phillips had taken enough damage. It was the first time Phillips was stopped since 1988"

-PW looked really good tonight. He dominated the fight from the opening bell and even when a large gash opened up above his eye, he didn't let it effect him, he got down to business. The body shots he was putting on Phillips were devastating. I could almost feel them. He threw good combinations and definitely had more power on his punches than when he's at 147. The only thing I was a little worried about was the amount of flush shots Verno got in. While Paul has an underrated chin, Phillips is not a power puncher. All in all, Williams was very impressive in my eyes.

Fight Night!

Fight night is here, finally. With Paul Williams' last two fights ending in brutal one round knockouts, it seems like we never get to see PW fight. Tonight's fight should make it through round 1, but then again, crazier things have happened. For the record, I'm predicting Williams by late stoppage.

"As Williams stepped to the scales, I couldn’t help but notice how skinny his legs were, then I noticed how wide his shoulders were and I remembered just how special of an athlete he is. Williams stands 6’1,” and is definitely at top-heavy fighter, which gives him the unique ability to move from welterweight to super middleweight with relative ease.

His opponent, Verno Phillips, looked trim. Phillips is a veteran fighter who is no slouch by any stretch of the imagination, and it was clear that he is coming to fight, although nobody is giving him a chance. One spectator who was standing next to me as I was taking pictures remarked to his friend: “Phillips looks good, too bad he is going to get killed.” As the spectator said that, Phillips jokingly stood up on his toes during the face off so that he could see Williams in his face. The size differential was obvious from the start."
-ringsidereport.com

Paul Williams Interview From EastSideBoxing.com

Big props to EastSideBoxing.com for this excellent interview.

Paul Williams Interview - 11/25/08 - courtesy of eastsideboxing.com

QUESTION: What do you believe makes a fighter like 3-time World Champion Verno Phillips accept a challenge from you, but others avoiding the clash such as Shane Mosely, Antonio Margarito and Kelly Pavlik?

ANSWER: Verno Phillips has no choice. His mortality table has come to an end. He's not in the situation where he can pick and choose.

QUESTION: It's known that you are an extremely large fighter for being a natural 147-pound with an 82" reach and your physical size is comparable to heavyweight fighters such as the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, who have a reach of 81" and 80" respectively. Do you believe that this is the main reason your counterparts avoid you even when millions of dollars have been offered to them to fight you?

ANSWER: It's not so much my reach. It is more about the fighter that I am. Verno has fought larger fighters and won. This is about individual ability. If Verno thought that he couldn't win, he wouldn't have taken the fight. He must feel that with his skill level he will be able to win.

QUESTION: Phillips stated that he has the advantage in the weight department as well as being able to take your punch. Would you agree with either of his points?

ANSWER: I wouldn't say that. I go back to Roy Jones when he fought John Ruiz. John Ruiz was a natural 230-pounder and he didn't hurt Roy.

QUESTION: You've had two consecutive devastating knockouts against fighters that don't get knocked out so easily. It took Cotto five rounds against Quintana when the referee stopped their bout. Phillips was only stopped once and that was in 1988. How do you envision this fight going, and do you believe you can knock him out?

ANSWER: This fight is not predicated on knocking him out. It is about winning the fight. It's about concentrating on coming out victorious.

QUESTION: This will be your 11th fight in California, and the 4th one in your last five bouts. Your fight against Margarito last year was a sell-out at the Home Depot Center, which was the first time it had ever gotten close to selling out. Do you believe the fans embraced you as one of their own, as they may with a new Los Angeles Dodger player?

ANSWER: Most definitely. I always receive a warm reception. I feel as if they recognize me as one of their own. When I was at the Shane Mosley fight they overwhelmed me with attention and autographs.

QUESTION: Winning at this level is tough to do in every fight. Many athletes and not just fighters, start letting outside distractions take away from their training and focus. What keeps you hungry and able to dedicate and sacrifice while training for a fight?

ANSWER: This is my job and it is based on winning. From day one I train to win, not to lose. Winning is the objective here. I want my name to come up when people are speaking of Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns. I want my name mentioned among that group and that keeps me motivated and hungry.

QUESTION: What goes through your mind when you break camp and prepare for the countdown to your fight?

ANSWER: When you've been on the road for 5 months you get excited because you know it's close to going home time. So I just want to do the job that I came to do and get out.

QUESTION: Providing you with your fight on Saturday, give me the top three names your would like to fight next and why?

ANSWER: I'm going to leave that up to my management team. I will fight who ever they put in front of me at 147,154 or 160.

FINAL COMMENT: I'm expecting a great fight. The winner will be the best fighter that night. No predictions.

I'll make a prediction. Williams by KO in the 9th.

5 days......and then what?

There's just over 5 days before we get to witness "The Punisher's" next conquest. This time, at 154, where he looks for another title in another division. I think the biggest question that most people are wondering is that if he beats Phillips, where to next? The biggest fights to be made are currently at 147 or 160 so Paul has a couple directions he could go. He could go back to 147 or move up to 160 for a mega fight, or he could stay at 154 and try and collect titles. All three options have their pros and cons.

Staying at 154 - If PW decides to stay at 154 he has a chance to do something really special by unifying belts by fighting the current champs (Sergeii Dzinziruk, Vernon Forrest or Daniel Santos). While none of the other title holders at 154 are capable of bringing in big money, the true boxing fans in the world would recognize these fights as top notch and if PW can unify a belt or two, he'd definitely be setting himself up for super stardom.

Moving down to 147 - Welterweight is where the money is at. It's as simple as that. A fight between PW and Margarito, Cotto, Clottey or any of the top Welters would be a must see and would bring in career high paydays without question. While these fights would no doubt be very lucrative, is it worth the time and effort to try and get those guys in the ring? It may be time for PW to leave the division where everyone refuses to fight him.

Moving up to 160 - High risk, high reward. PW's best attributes in my opinion is the fact that at the lower weights (147-154) he's physical attributes are freaky and impossible to deal with. When you start moving up to the heavier divisions, 6'2 just isn't as tall as it used to be and the amount of punishment each punch delivers is elevated as well. While the middleweight division isn't as deep as Welter, there are also huge paydays to be had against guys like Kelly Pavlik and Arthur Abraham.

While PW's future weight class is up in the air, one thing is definitely certain, the future looks bright.

Verno Phillips Interview Highlights

From boxingscene.com:

Verno Phillips Interview
QUESTION: How can you prepare for a fighter as tall and long as Paul Williams?

ANSWER: I am going to use the experience from my past fights. I won’t give away my techniques that I am going to use but I can tell you that I’m going to chop him down to my size.

QUESTION: It is seldom that a natural 147-pound fighter such as Williams is bigger than most middleweights. With you being 5-7 and having a 69" reach, how difficult will it be to try to hit Williams on the chin given his height of 6-3 and 82" reach? Now keep in mind, the Klitschko’s, current Heavyweight World Champions, 6-6 Wladimir and the 6-7 Vitali, have a reach of 81" and 80" respectively.

ANSWER: He’s going to get hit. Trust me. I fought Silvio Blanco from Italy. He’s taller than Paul and I had no problem hitting him. I’ll tell you what; Williams chose the wrong date to knock on my door for an opportunity. November 29-fight night is also my birthday and I ain’t coming to California to lay down.

QUESTION: Do you believe the weight factor will be in your favor or his?

ANSWER: Williams is coming from 147 to 154 and I am a natural 154 pounds. I am very comfortable with my weight, so naturally the weight factor is in my favor.

QUESTION: Needing a very honest answer, what has been in your mind since accepting this challenge against Williams knowing the so many different obstacles to overcome such as height, reach, volume punching and the added strength in his punching power?

ANSWER: Since I accepted the challenge against Williams I didn’t pay attention to all those things that you consider obstacles. I know that he can take a punch, but I also know that I have been training hard. He’s no different than any other fighter that I have been in the ring with except that the press is blowing him up like he’s invincible.

FINAL COMMENT: I know that he’s looking past Verno Phillips thinking I ain’t no thing. He needs to know that on November 29, Verno Phillips is going to have something for him. He ain’t gonna lay me out like Quintana.