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Gammer Suffers First Loss; Williams on the comeback?
On Friday night at the Cwrt Herbert Sports Centre in Neath, Wales on a joint Matchroom/Paul Boyce promotion, SaddoBoxing was ringside to see Danny Williams’ latest bid to get his career back on track by meeting local hero and undefeated British heavyweight champion Scott Gammer.
Williams had weighed in at his lightest since his professional debut in October 1995, was looking very fit. In contrast, Gammer had weighed in at a career high 17 Stone 1Lb (239.75lbs), and being a fighter who lacked power but relied on his speed and stamina, this was a spanner in the works for the Gammer team from the start.
Well renowned for suffering from pre-fight nerves, Williams doesn’t like to show up too soon for fights and left it late this time, only 30 minutes before he was due to meet Gammer in the ring.
Things didn’t go too smoothly for “The Brixton Bomber” during his ring entrance either, as he was kept waiting at the back of the arena for a good five minutes while Sky Sports prepared to introduce him. Williams came into a hostile reception, but it died down by the time he was introduced. Gammer, on the other hand, came in to a heroes welcome, with the crowd exploding as the local boy made his way to the ring.
In the first round Williams came out with a fast start, throwing some good shots, trying to force Gammer onto the back foot and assert his authority from the start. It took Gammer some time to get into the round but when he did, the crowd exploded with every shot Scott was landing, and this seemed to have given Scott the boost he needed.
Gammer was now coming forward, however it was Williams who was landing the better shots as his stance made his jab look a lot bigger than it was. Gammer was walking onto punches and eating the jab for the remainder of the round.
The second round was a different affair completely. This time it was Gammer who came out the aggressor, trying to assert his authority and make the ring his. It didn’t take him long to get his rhythm going, throwing punches in twos and threes and forcing Williams to step back.
Gammer followed it up with more punches to the body and head as Scott seemed to find Williams’ weakness by not giving him time to think. Danny is a thinking fighter, whom when pressured doesn’t come back with anything, but given time to think, he can be dangerous. But so far, Scott had used a wide array of punches, landing some nice body shots and going to the head, not giving Williams time to come back with anything threatening.
In the third round, it was back to Williams again to come out the aggressor. Danny came out throwing some big hooks to the body and it looked like Williams wanted a big round after being so quiet in the second frame. But Gammer weathered the mini-storm, standing strong and came back throwing shots in two and threes again, targeting that body that he had success in finding in the previous round.
Gammer’s shots didn’t seem to affect Williams too much as the challenger kept coming forward, walking Scott down and making Gammer use his energy, constantly keeping him on the back foot. Was Williams already pondering the thought of absorbing an overweight Gammer’s punches until he was tired enough to go for the KO?
The fourth was a much quieter round. Gammer was open and easily hit by Williams’ jab. He did land a good left uppercut that made the crowd explode, but that was about it from Gammer in the first half of the round. Had Williams’ walking down tactic in the third round forced Gammer to spend too much in round three? Scott started to become more active and take the initiative in the second half of the fourth, looking to be the aggressor and targeting Williams’ body again.
It was looking like team Gammer had expected an out of shape Williams coming into this fight, with Scott targeting the body as he was the one in better shape and the one who would last the longer of the 12 rounds, but it was to the contrary as Williams was clearly in the better shape, especially around the body. Its also possible that team Gammer was asking questions of what Williams had on the inside, as perhaps he had he slimmed down too fast?
As the start of the fifth sounded, it was Williams again who came out the aggressor, trying to force the high tempo putting Gammer onto the back foot. Scott again covered up to easily weather the storm, but did nothing worthwhile afterward. Danny has vast experience in the ring and given time can be dangerous but Gammer at times was just standing there, giving Williams all the time he wanted.
It was now the inexperience of Gammer that was starting to show. There were no steps to the side to throw Williams’ concentration, no steps backwards to force Williams to reposition himself and start over, he just let him fight his game. This was more of a quieter round for both fighters, but that’s a style that Williams likes to fight and it was Williams’ jab that won the round as he used it effectively and Gammer seemed confused at times.
The sixth round was a lot like the fifth, although Gammer tried to use his fast jab more and when he did, he was getting some good success. But again, Gammer looked like he lacked intensity as he still wasn’t committing himself like he was in the early rounds when he was having good success. Was it down to him being so heavy or just Williams experience over him that was stopping Gammer from being able to impose himself? I think it was a bit of both.
In the seventh, it was Williams again who came out the faster, somewhat surprising from a seasoned pro like Williams, as they normally like to start slow and finish strong. Scott was a little more active in this round than the last, but it was a round that Scott was to be troubled in. In the dying seconds, Williams landed a big right the head of the Welshman, sending him crashing into the corner, but as Williams moved in for the kill, the bell came just in time for Scott.
As the eighth sounded, everyone was wondering how much of an effect that big right had on Gammer. Williams came out jabbing, instead the pressure style that he had adopted in the last few rounds but this was to be a Gammer round. Scott got inside of Williams’ jab and went once again to the body, a tactic that as of yet had had no effect on Williams.
This was a repeat of round three, with Williams walking Scott down, forcing the local boy to stay active using a lot of his energy throwing punches. Towards the end of the round, Gammer let his hands go and landed two big lefts to the head, but they seemed to have little effect on Williams as he just came back to walk Scott down as the bell sounded to end the round.
In the ninth, Williams came out trying to back Gammer up, but Scott was to stand strong and start the ninth like he finished the eighth. Again, Scott was throwing twos and threes, looking to go to the body when possible, but there was inkling that his punches were having less and less of an effect on Williams.
Williams could sense that Gammer was running low as he quickly backed the Welshman up, throwing a lot of hooks to the body and head, looking for one big punch to land. Gammer tried to cover up, but was making no attempt to clinch or move out of the assault, as perhaps he thought he could weather the storm like before and come back strong, however it wasn’t to be.
Williams found the big right he was looking for and sent Gammer crashing to the ground. The champion was up on his knees, looking to his corner, and he seemed to be up at the count of nine, but his legs were still unsteady as he went backwards into the corner, causing the ref to wave it off and Scott to suffer his first loss.
Williams regains the British Heavyweight title and improves to 37-6 (30) while Scott Gammer falls to 17-1-1 (9).
Overall, it was a fantastic fight to watch. The only time that the referee was involved was when Williams put Gammer down, he didn’t need to step in for so much as one break in the entire fight. These were two classy fighters in the ring that night with a lot of respect for each other and the boxing game.
The two questions now are, can Williams go on to avenge his recent losses to Matt Skelton and Audley Harrison or even pick up further honours in form of Commonwealth and European glory? Can Gammer come back from this loss or has he been found out in his first big challenge? Scott is young enough to come back from this loss and it seemed that he lacked experience, fighting the wrong game plan in this fight.
Danny Williams threw a big spanner in the works of Team Gammer by coming into the fight such good shape. There was so much uncertainty about the weight loss of Williams that it was hard to measure just how much of a strain it had taken on his body. Team Gammer gambled on the plan to work the body and wear Williams down, a gamble they lost.
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