Will the Real Danny Williams Please Stand Up?

Saturday night sees Vitali Klitschko defend his WBC world heavyweight title for the first time, against Britain’s Danny Williams. Both men have reached a point in their careers where this fight will serve as an indicator to how they will be perceived in years to come. A defeat for the Ukrainian will call into question how good he ever really was and a loss for the Londoner will make the Tyson heroics look like a blip in an otherwise mediocre career. Williams was catapulted into the title picture after his demolition of the fighter formerly known as “Iron Mike.” Prior to this act of legend slaying, Williams was a household name only in his own household. But in boxing and especially heavyweight boxing, you are only one left hook away from redemption or one right cross away from oblivion. Now, having redeemed himself against Tyson, can Danny reach the promised land by becoming the heavyweight champion of the world?

Klitschko is looking to consolidate his position as the best fighter in the division and go on to be regarded as the best heavyweight of the post Tyson/Lewis/Holyfield generation. A convincing stoppage win over Williams should set him well on the way to achieving his goals, but are things ever that clear cut in this the most unpredictable of sports? As one writer far more original than this one once said, “Life is what happens when you are busy making plans.” After reviewing the careers of both participants, in an effort to gain an indication of what will take place in Las Vegas on Saturday night, I was reminded of the old Stevie Wonder lyric: “The more I find out the less I know.”

The levels of performance throughout the Brixton Blockbuster’s career have been consistent only in their inconsistency. At his best, he displayed courage beyond the call of duty when knocking out Mark Potter in defense of his British title. Having sustained a dislocated shoulder in the second round he persevered with one arm and remarkably knocked out Potter in the sixth. Coming in as a huge underdog against Tyson, Williams looked in desperate trouble in the opening two rounds. Although wobbled several times he refused to capitulate under the attack. In fact, this was probably the best nine minutes of Tyson’s career since his first fight with Holyfield in November 1996. Williams displayed great mental as well as physical strength to weather several storms before demoralizing and knocking out Tyson in the fourth.

Contrast these performances with some of his career lowlights and you can appreciate my dilemma when trying to assess big Dan’s chances against “The Pain from The Ukraine.” In his first major fight, an April 1999 challenge for the British title, Danny was out-pointed and given a boxing lesson by Julius Francis. Yes, the same Julius Francis who actually sold advertising space on the soles of his boots prior to his two-round, five-knockdown defeat against Mike Tyson. In February 2003 Williams was worn down and stopped in the sixth by Sinan Samil Sam in a European title fight. Then most worrying of all was the January 2004 defeat by British journeyman Michael Sprott. Williams decided that a demonstration of his defensive skills and hanging out his chin for the ever-grateful Sprott was the way to retain his title. While pacifism can be an admirable quality in civil rights leaders, it is a major character flaw in a prizefighter and the judges gave the decision to the busier Sprott.

Therein lies the paradox that is Danny Williams. At times he displays the hand speed, timing and punching power that suggests he is the natural successor to Lennox Lewis and at others the reluctance that makes him appear to be the reincarnation of Henry Akinwande. Klitschko himself is not without question marks in the intestinal fortitude department. Doubts first arose after his decision to retire on his stool at the end of the tenth round against Chris Byrd in April 2000. Byrd has a reputation as a man who would have to fire off at least a three-punch combination to be sure of ringing a doorbell. The fact that Klitschko was comfortably ahead in the bout makes his decision even harder to understand.

Then there was the Ukrainian’s initially tentative performance against an obviously out of shape Corrie Sanders. The thirty-nine-year-old South African came into the ring with a two-part plan, to nail Vitali with the same left hand that had disposed of his brother Wladimir or to get knocked out trying. There was ample opportunity for Klitschko to keep his composure and pick off Sanders as he came in swinging wild right hands. But for several rounds he absorbed several haymakers and at times seemed unwilling to trade with Sanders. Only when it became apparent that Corrie was physically spent did Vitali open up and even then he was unable to floor the veteran before the referee’s intervention gave him the victory and the title.

These two portraits bear no resemblance to the totally committed fighter who decided to trade at close quarters with Lennox Lewis. Lewis landed plenty of bombs, but Klitschko kept coming and considered himself the moral victor despite losing by TKO after sustaining a horrific cut. So what will happen at the Mandalay Bay Casino and Resort on Saturday night? My feeling is that Klitschko will adopt a safety first strategy. He will try to keep Williams at range by utilizing his long jab and dropping in the occasional right hand bomb. The Russian will hope to gradually dispirit the Englishman and wear him down and when the time is right, move in for the finish.

The only way Klitschko’s strategy can work is if Williams allows it to. If Danny can keep in close, with his head on the bigger man’s chest, he can bring his own shorter punches into play. The Brixton man’s hand speed should not be underestimated. When Klitschko comes under pressure, he has a tendency to retreat in straight lines with no lateral movement. At such times his upright, European amateur style can make him an inviting target. I cannot see the fight going past eight rounds. I feel Williams is on such a psychological high at the moment that he will let all that natural ability come to the fore and again shock the world with a stoppage win around the middle rounds and so be victorious in the battle of the schizophrenic heavyweights.